RCPD kicks off “Operation Greek”

Operation Greek is a casual “meet and greet” created especially for students at K-State. It is a time for students to interact with police in a fun and positive environment. It has been a success for RCPD and it has also seemed to be popular with those students who have participated. Operation Greek has been held at house dinners, meetings, and even a pancake feed. RCPD Officers involved make attempts at creating an enjoyable and entertaining experience while also being informative. Operation Greek is a question and answer meeting filled with light hearted responses, honest and true-to-life answers, as well as a small group of officers who have devoted their own time to make dealing with the police a little easier on the students in the Riley County and Manhattan area.

Operation Greek is generally an hour in length, but this may vary. Ultimately our officers are happy to speak with you for any reasonable amount of time.

Who is eligible to participate?

Students of all walks of life. Though this program was named after its original audience, it has expanded past just the greek community at K-State. Sports teams, academic societies, large study groups and any other gathering of 20 or more college aged community members are encourage to participate. Whether you have questions regarding alcohol, safety, or the police in general, this program is for you.

Officers that participate in Operation Greek tend to be younger in age, but with enough knowledge and experience to adequately answer questions and join in on conversations that may arise. These officers are meant to facilitate conversation and answer questions posed to them on the fly and are discouraged from creating a boring hour long presentation for your group to sit through.

How did it start?

In 2011, three Patrol officers came together during a portion of their training and began to researcH the hIstory and effects of Fake Patty’s Day on Manhattan and RiLey County. This was similar to the projects completed by all newer officers at the department and is a requirement of their employment (the neighborhood portfolio exercise). Many officers will select a neighborhood and report on its crime and ways that the department may be able to affect that crime, but these three officers chose to work together on a project that was bigger than one specific area of their jurisdiction and instead picked something that had a large effect on the community as a whole. Officer Droge (#TwitterCop), Officer Wilkey, and Officer Doehling looked at crime statistics, researched festivals and events in other cities and states, as well as met with the public to get their take on FPD. Throughout the process of interviewing college age community members the three found that there was a communication breakdown between the department and that demographic. This was something they felt they needed to change and on their own, without command of the department, decided to meet with fraternities and sororities in their “off-duty” time. This initiative on the part of our officers created Operation Greek and continues to improve relationships between the police department and students at K-State. It has since become a permanent and active program at the Riley County Police Department.

To schedule with our OpGreek Officers contact the Public Information Officer or complete this Speaking Engagement and Appearance Request Form, print or save it, and turn it into the Riley County Police Department by emailing it to the Public Information Officer (email listed below) or dropping it off in person. Please allow at least 14 days notice for all speaking engagement requests. For “Topics to be discussed,” please put “Operation Greek.”

For more information on Operation Greek, or to schedule with Riley County Police Department contact: