Bemidji Police and Parks & Recreation Go Fishing for ‘Casting with Cops’

The Bemidji Police Department and the city’s Parks and Recreation department partnered together Friday for “Casting with Cops.” The event was a way to teach kids about fishing and also let the community connect with area law enforcement.

The event featured a number of officers from both the Bemidji Police Department and the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, and they enjoyed a day out on Lake Bemidji along with many kids and families. Thanks to donations and grant money from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Parks and Rec department was able to provide everything the kids needed to have a good time fishing.

“We’ve had lots of community donations come in, so we were able to give away about 100 rods and reel sets, bags, T-shirts,” said Marcia Larson, Bemidji Parks and Recreation Director. “And it’s a really great interaction with the police. Sometimes it’s just fun for us to interact in a really fun way with the community.”

The event stems from a program that the Bemidji Police Department was already doing for a number of years known as “Let’s Go Fishing.” But when Bemidji Parks and Recreation caught wind of this, they wanted to expand the program for years to come.

“This event is really a springboard from that, in where we brought in a whole lot of partners from across the community,” explained Bemidji Police Chief Mike Mastin. “I mean, DNR here, Bemidji Fire is here. The Sheriff’s Office, the high school fishing team is here. A lot of entities that can show we’re all part of this community. We have commonalities, we have common interests, and we all like to enjoy this place that we live, and one way to do that is through fishing.”