Midland Police Department Challenges Bay City Public Safety in Polar Plunge Fundraising

The Midland Police Department issued a bone-chilling challenge, and the Bay City Department of Public Safety accepted.

The Polar Plunge is an annual event where participants take a dip in frigid water to raise money for the Special Olympics. In a January Facebook post, the Midland Police Department laid down the gauntlet, challenging the Bay City Department of Public Safety to beat them in raising funds.

“We participated in the Polar Plunge last year for the first time, but they got us involved kind of late in the game. So we just made sure that if we raised a certain dollar amount last year that the final pièce de résistance, if you will, would be that I would plunge,” said Midland Police Chief Nicole Ford. “This year we decided, since we were kind of up on the game now, that we would challenge one of our fellow police departments to join us and, in turn, raise more money for the Special Olympics.”

Bay City Director of Public Safety Caleb Rowell says that his department was more than happy to join in the friendly competition to help out those athletes.

“Everybody’s pretty much heard of the Special Olympics, but, you know, if you’ve ever been a part of it, or seen it, or witnessed one of these competitions, it’s the highlight of a lot of these people’s lives to be able to compete,” said Rowell. “I’m just excited to be a part of it. No matter who comes out on top (even though we plan on winning), Special Olympics is the winner.”

Confidence is high on both sides, and no challenge would be complete without some sort of penalty for losing.  Both sides have designed a sweatshirt that must be worn by the losing department’s chief.

“When Midland loses, the police chief has to wear a sweatshirt for a day that says ‘Bay City DPS is Cooler Than Us,'” says Rowell, adding, “and its, you know, got a few little icicles hanging off of it.”

Chief Ford isn’t worried. She says, “If Bay City loses, which we very much expect to occur, they will be wearing one with a large Midland Police Department patch on it that says ‘Finest Department in the State.'”

It’s been a closely contested match-up that promises to stay that way until the bitter cold end on February 18th at Dow Diamond, where officers will take the plunge. To catch up with the antics, or to support either side with donations, you can go to the Midland Police Department or Bay City Department of Public Safety Facebook page.