The 2023 Battle for the Throne

June 30, 2023June 30, 2023 Christy Nealey

The Division of Fire earns top honor with firefighters Zachary Sayles’ and Nathan Beahm’s back-to-back wins.

The June 2nd battle for the “Fittest Public Safety Division of the Year” was like no other in history. The 2023 Public Safety Games teams series was quite the performance to watch, with seven very eager Division of Fire teams competing against one another throughout May in 3 qualifying events: A 60-minute Endurance Run-Row-Bike sequence, a 15-minute Dumbbell Work Capacity Event, and a Pentathlon for the Strength Event. Each team earned points based on their rank from the seven events, and the top 2 teams earned their spot in the Final Obstacle Course Event. After many years of participating in the Public Safety Games, Firefighter (FF) Tanner Kump, with his teammate FF Lam Le, claimed the 2nd place spot to enter into the Public Safety Games final event facing the 2022 defending champions FF Zachary Sayles and Lt. Natham Beahm!

The final event included an 8-stage indoor course that featured many “Strongman” implements like the Yoke, “Strongman” bags, rope climbs, kettlebells, and barbells mixed with echo bikes, rowers, and stair climbs. After completing the first four stages of the course, the firefighters had to finish the course in all of their gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). In its entirety, it was a consummation of many performance tasks a tactical athlete could endure that relied heavily on teamwork, communication, tactical awareness, mental acuity, and the overall ability to work for an extended period in a high-stress environment.

Congratulations to Station 6 B-Shift FF Zachary Sayles and Lt. Nathan Beahm for successfully defending their 2022 title and to the Division of Fire for claiming the Fittest Public Safety Division of the Year title for the fifth time! Their names have been added to the Public Safety Games “Fittest Public Safety Division” plaque inside the lobby of the Henrico Training Center.

Alongside the main competition, we had many other public safety personnel support their respective divisions (Police, Fire, and Sheriff) through individual competitions that included cardiovascular, work capacity, and strength events. There were also ten non-competitive, honor-system-based mini-events to give more participants the opportunity to join the fun and support their divisions without worrying about their age or fitness levels. Congratulations to the Division of Police for collecting the most points from the individual competitions.

All in all, this year’s Public Safety Games were successful, and we hope participation continues to grow! We look forward to the 2024 Public Safety Games, the 8th anniversary of the Games, as our vision continues to unfold.

Head to the Fitness and Wellness SharePoint page to see all the details of the Public Safety Games events, including the preliminary events, final obstacle course, and mini events. There are also plenty of captured moments and videos of the action!

Once again, congratulations to all the winners!

If you are sworn public safety personnel and are interested in either the Public Safety Games or joining any of our sworn only fitness programs please contact Joshua Gaskins at [email protected] or 501-7218.

For more information about all of our programs, please view the Fitness and Wellness Division Sharepoint:

https://henricova.sharepoint.com/Fitness_Wellness

Public Safety Games Finale

Come cheer on your favorite competitors in the final event of the 2023 Public Safety Games- the Team Obstacle Course. Teams will go head to head to complete this grueling challenge and round out the month-long competition. Let’s see who will be named the Fittest Public Safety Division!

The Division of Fire Continues Their Reign

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022 Christy Nealey

The May 6th all-employee kick-off reenergized the sixth anniversary of the Public Safety Games season. Forty-six registered athletes between Police, Fire, and Sheriff began to compete for the 2022 Fittest Public Safety Division bragging rights by accumulating as many points as possible over four weeks. There were three individual events, four team events, and ten mini-event challenges for the athletes to attempt. (Visit our SharePoint page for a complete list of events.) The top teams with the most points earned them a spot in the head-to-head final obstacle course challenge, and the division with the highest total number of points was declared the overall division winner. The energy and motivation surrounding the events by each athlete was invigorating and really turned up the heat of the friendly competition. (Check out our SharePoint page to see pictures of each challenge.)

There was a lot of anticipation going into the final team challenge as there was no clear overall winner at that time. Thus, the first to finish the final challenge would be the decide the winner for the entire Public Safety Games season!

The final competition was the consummation of many performance tasks a tactical athlete could endure: teamwork, communication, tactical awareness, mental acuity, dexterity, maneuvering, endurance tasks, strength tasks, and the overall ability to work for an extended period in a high-stress environment. Zachary Sayles and Nathan Beahm from the Division of Fire went head-to-head with Dustin Hazelgrove and Trevor Holmes from the Police Division for the title by completing a seven-part obstacle course with a mental twist:

View the Final Obstacle Course Event recap video.

Congratulations to Zachary Sayles, Nathan Beahm, and the Division of Fire for claiming the Fittest Public Safety Division of the year title for the fourth time! Their names have been added to the Public Safety Games “Fittest Public Safety Division” plaque inside the lobby at the Henrico Training Center. We look forward to the 7th anniversary of the Public Safety Games in 2023, as our vision continues to unfold.

If you are sworn public safety personnel interested in either the Public Safety Games or joining our sworn-only fitness programs, please contact Joshua Gaskins at [email protected] or 501-7218.

For more information about all of our programs, please view the Fitness and Wellness Division Sharepoint page.

Return of the Public Safety Games

May 31, 2022May 31, 2022 Christy Nealey

For the first time since the inception of the Public Safety Games, on Friday, May 6, 2022, over 50 employees, fans, and volunteers from many different departments contributed to the kick-off of the 6th anniversary Public Safety Games Kick-Off after a 2-year hiatus due to COVID-19.

Participants of varying fitness levels completed many different physically and mentally engaging challenges with the incentive to win both door prizes and potential votes for this year’s fan favorite. Fitness and Wellness chose specific challenges to help participants gain insight into the drills used to physically and mentally train our public safety heroes. These exercises included wall vaulting, window climbing, the Keiser sled, tire flips, the how-to or pull-up challenge, fit-tac-toe, stair climb word find, Echo Bike Jenga, and a 150-pound dummy drag. In addition, many other attractions like the K9 Unit, the Bomb Squad, a Fire Truck, and a Sheriff Recruit Vehicle were available to tour. Each successful challenge completed earned a Bucket Beirut toss to vote for the Fan Favorite. Congratulations to the Division of Police for winning the “Fan Favorite” and 50 points toward your divisional Public Safety Games score!

During the month-long competitions, eight teams of 2 and 35 individuals from Henrico’s Police, Fire, and Sheriff divisions are competing in Endurance, Work Capacity, Strength, and Mini Event challenges to determine who will win the title of the Fittest Public Safety Division of 2022. Currently, the Police Division is in the lead, with about 50% of the events still to be tallied. Stay tuned by following the leaderboard here: https://henricova.sharepoint.com/Fitness_Wellness/SitePages/PublicSafetyGames.aspx

We invite you to come to watch the explosive and entertaining final obstacle course team competition Friday, June 3 from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM at the Henrico Training Center.

Check out our kick-off recap video!

All Employee Public Safety Games Kickoff Event

2022 Public Safety Games- Save the Dates

April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 Christy Nealey

In 2012, the County began a friendly, fitness competition between the Henrico Police Division, Henrico Division of Fire, and the Henrico Sheriff’s Office and commenced for the first time as the ‘Public Safety Games’ (PSG) hosted by the Fitness & Wellness (F&W) Division of the Department of Human Resources. Since its inception, five successful PSGs have transpired, along with steady growth in popularity, competitiveness, and enthusiasm. Currently, the Division of Fire has three wins, the Sheriff’s Office has one win, and Police Division has one win.

The battle for the throne of the “Fittest Public Safety Division” of the year has become an excellent way to compel our Public Safety members to improve individual fitness performance. The overall aim of the competition has been to provide different, fun, yet challenging events to test the athletes’ endurance, work capacity, and strength, culminating in the Final Obstacle Course Event.

2022 is the 6th Anniversary of the Public Safety Games and this year’s Battle for the Throne of “Fittest Public Safety Division” will be the most thrilling of all. New this year, the Public Safety Division with the most accumulated points throughout all events will be declared the winner. Therefore, participation is more crucial than ever before. This year’s competitions will kick off on Friday, May 6, as an all-employee “civilian day” with fun and social challenges. Employees who choose to participate can gain one point toward the division they of their choice. The main competitions will ensue in the weeks following: The Endurance Event, The Work Capacity Event, The Relative Strength Event, and then the Final Team Obstacle Course held on Friday, June 3. Individual competitors can participate in one or more of their chosen events, and each event will recognize its winner. Team competitors will partake as a pair in all events, with only the top teams from each division invited to the Final Obstacle Course. The accumulated total points from each competition (all individual, team, and mini) will determine who is the Fittest Public Safety Division of the year. Anyone of any age and fitness level has an opportunity to contribute to their division’s point totals!

More event details are coming soon on the Fitness and Wellness SharePoint site.

If you are interested in participating in any of the events, including the All-Employee Kick-Off Event, individual events, team events, or mini-events, please email us at [email protected].

Don’t forget to check out our video overview of the 5th Anniversary Public Safety Games Final Event in 2019 on YouTube!

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. Together, we are making that happen.

Join Henrico Police and more than 38 million people in 16,000+ communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide.

The night will be alive with cookouts, block parties, ice-cream socials, parades and other fun community events in celebration of National Night Out. Join us — lock your doors, turn on your front porch lights and spend the evening outside with your neighbors and Henrico Police.

All COVID-19 safety guidelines should be followed by all event coordinators and attendees.

Is your neighborhood on our list of events? If not, be sure to register your neighborhood’s event with Henrico Police by Tuesday, July, 20 2021 so we can make plans to stop by. While we cannot guarantee it, we do our very best to have a Police Division and/or Henrico County representative stop by every event registered with us.

Henrico’s Second Annual Safe + Sound Week!

August 1, 2019August 2, 2019 Ayasha Sledge

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has selected August 12 -19 as Safe + Sound Week for 2019. This nationwide event promotes workplace safety awareness for all employees. Participation in Safe + Sound Week shows a commitment to safety through county leadership and worker participation.

The Division of Fire’s Office of Emergency Management and Workplace Safety (EMWS) in cooperation with other Henrico departments will be exhibiting safety-orientated displays for County employees to experience.

The primary event will be held on Wednesday, August 14th at the Central Automotive Maintenance (CAM) facility at Woodman Road between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. FREE hot dogs, chips and drinks will be provided to all attendees at the Woodman location on August 14 and a display table featuring Red Wing Shoes will be set up at the Woodman site as well.

A County-wide e-mail will be sent closer to August 12 outlining events scheduled for other days of the week. Employees participating in Safe + Sound Week activities will have opportunities to win raffle prizes.

Please visit the Power Henrico site on Monday, August 12 view Deputy County Manager Tony McDowell’s charge to all employees for Safe + Sound Week.

Effective safety and health programs help Virginia businesses and municipalities by:

Preventing workplace injuries and illnesses
Improving compliance with occupational safety and health standards
Reducing costs, including significant reductions in workers’ compensation premiums
Engaging employees so they’re mindful of safe work practices at all times
Enhancing social responsibility goals
Increasing productivity and enhancing overall operations

Henrico Departments/Divisions Participating in Safe + Sound Week: Emergency Management (Fire); Workman’s Compensation and Claims (Finance-Risk Management); Employee Health Services (Human Resources); Recreation and Parks; Environmental Safety (Fire); Fitness and Wellness (Human Resources); Occupational Safety (Fire); Public Utilities; Police; Fire and Schools.

If you need additional information or have questions once the County-wide email is sent, please email Safety Officers Ann Fowler or Lisa Dutton.

The Battle for the Public Safety “Throne”

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 Ayasha Sledge

The 4th annual Public Safety Games brought new opportunities and several unexpected yet exciting twists. The addition of 4 new individual competitions – the 10K run, 10K row, relative strength and CrossFit competitions – brought new energy and excitement to this annual event. The result was a record setting 43 public safety employees from all three public safety divisions (Police, Fire and Sheriff) showing off their tactical athlete prowess, proving the 2019 Public Safety games the most anticipated competition in the game’s history thus far.

Visit us on the web to view specific results of the “Top Tactical Athlete” and “Fittest Public Safety Division.”

Congratulations to FFs Ethan Huey, Tyler Brown, Tyrell Austin & Kelsey Thomas for winning the battle for the “Public Safety Throne” and the bragging rights of “Fittest Public Safety Division” of 2019 for the Division of Fire!

You can view the recap video through the Henrico County Public Relations & Media Services YouTube channel here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1HWUR7ER6w).