BLANCHESTER — The Blanchester Police Department is participating in Light Ohio Blue — a statewide campaign to honor law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. The campaign also strives to show support to current law enforcement officers.

Every year in May, during National Police Week, Light Ohio Blue works with Ohioans to light up skylines all around Ohio blue for law enforcement. Light Ohio Blue also organizes a caravan of police cars during this week to honor those law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, and to encourage citizens to show their support for law enforcement.

In September, in remembrance of the 9-11 attacks and heroic response by first responders, Light Ohio Blue and Light Ohio Red host a friendly competition among first responders, encouraging agencies to submit photos of their vehicles for a photo contest. The competition runs from Sept. 11 to Sept. 30, and the photo in each category with the most votes, wins.

“Although this is the first year Blanchester Police Department is participating in this contest, this is the third year for this competition. Additionally, Blanchester Police Department is the only police agency in Clinton County to join the contest,” said Blanchester Police Chief Robert J. Houghton. “Our cruiser photo can be found in category 5, and each person can vote daily until September 30, and can vote for one photo per category. Our entered photo is taken in front of a mural located downtown, named ‘Blanchester The Way It Was,’ which was painted by local artist Ronald Keith in 2017.”

Houghton added, “Our department is very proud of our new cruisers, which were updated over the last year from cruisers that were over 10 years old. Additionally, our department was awarded $200,000 in grants for the purchase of our new cruisers.”

To vote, visit https://lightohioblue.org/2023-catlist/2023-lecat5/

To learn more about Light Ohio Blue, visit https://lightohioblue.org/