KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Clay County Sheriff's Office is working to build relationships in rural communities with a new trailer.
The Wheels of Engagement trailer will haul around yard games, sports equipment and interactive activities that are "designed to bring people together."
Residents can even play games on the exterior of the trailer itself.
The older trailer previously held supplies for the Emergency Management Division.
Now that it has been repurposed, its new goal is to reach smaller and more rural communities like Avondale, Holt, Mosby and Missouri City.
Clay County plans to use the trailer at schools, community events, outreach efforts and pop-up events.
Community Services Coordinator Hillary Hidy, who spearheaded the project, says the trailer will allow the sheriff's office to "meet people where they are in a fun, approachable way."
"It creates opportunities for positive, non-enforcement interactions that help break down barriers, build trust, and reinforce that deputies are here not only to protect, but to support and connect with the community," Hidy said in a news release.
Many of the events the sheriff's office puts on annually are in bigger population centers, per Sarah Boyd, public relations manager at the sheriff's office. So Boyd is excited to see what outreach can look like for smaller communities with the Wheels of Engagement trailer.
"Residents of our smaller and more rural communities may not be able to make it to those, so we wanted a way to take the fun to them," said Boyd, who also oversees the Community Engagement Unit.
The sheriff's office posts all public events on its website.
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