SVPD Carries Flame of Hope Through Town

Scotts Valley Police officers hit the ground running on Wednesday carrying the Special Olympics of Northern California torch with them.

Six officers from the department joined the more than 1,000 law enforcement personnel from throughout Northern California that participated in the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run. The SVPD officers ran together carrying the torch for almost three miles through the city starting at the Scotts Valley Hilton and ending at the Scotts Valley Fire District’s Glenwood station.

The Torch Run is a part of a year-round fundraising campaign by police departments from all over Northern California for the Special Olympic of Northern California. The money raised goes toward supporting the athletes with year-round coaching and training, and participation in the summer games, which take place this year at UC-Davis from June 22-24. The Law Enforcement Torch Run, which has raised more than $6 million dollars since its inception in 1998, is the single largest supporter of Special Olympics Northern California.

Scotts Valley PD has been participating in the Torch Run and fundraising for Special Olympics for 10 to 15 years, according to Lt. John Hohmann. This year, SVPD has raised over $11,000 for the organization and is the sixth highest fundraiser out of all the Northern California law enforcement agencies participating.

“It’s great,” Hohmann said. “We take pride in what we do. Compared to some of the bigger agencies like San Francisco and San Jose, that’s pretty good for little Scotts Valley.”

Hohmann said that a big part of the reason SVPD is so successful is because of the types of fundraisers they have each year. The department holds three to four different events throughout the year, such as a poker tournament, Bagging 4 Bucks, and its biggest fundraising event, Police in Pursuit at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville.

“We have great events and officers that are very involved,” Hohmann said.

Along with officers from the SVPD, the Santa Cruz District Attorney’s Office and officers from Watsonville and Capitola police departments, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol fundraised and ran in the Torch Run.

The Torch Run began in Watsonville on Wednesday morning and the route took officers from the various agencies through the county with a stop at the Santa Cruz Courthouse where the district attorney’s office took over the flame and ran it to Scotts Valley where the SVPD finished it off.

Special Olympian Shaun Saffen of Santa Cruz ran with officers throughout the day, starting in Watsonville and ending in Scotts Valley. He has participated in the Santa Cruz County leg of the Torch Run for seven years and says he appreciates all that the officers do to help him be able to compete at the games.

“What the police officers do makes us feel great,” said Saffen, who competes in track and field, basketball, bowling and soccer. “I really like being able to run with them every year.”

Hohmann will be attending the games this year and will be placing medals on the athletes.

“It’s great to see what this does for the athletes,” he said.