Open House today leave with an understanding of just how accessible they are to the public. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., interested persons are invited to visit the facility, pose questions to the officers and discover more about the work that they do in and outside the service. "The overall theme is to promote the station and the officers as being `user-friendly' to those in the area,'' explained the Station's Divisional Commander, Chief Inspector Vendal Bridgeman. "We want people to come in and visit and see how we operate and we will be ready to answer their questions. We will also have different road safety brochures available and other informative literature on the workings of the Police. "We will be supported by members of the Eastern Division Consultative Committee to show the community how the Police and that group are working in partnership. We want people to know we are their friends and we will demonstrate to them that we are serious about working with the public.'' According to Chief Insp. Bridgeman, various dignitaries have been invited to attend today's opening as have all school students at the Island's Eastern end. "We will have Police vehicles on display, both two and four wheels, and, during the day, we will also have conducted tours through the station. We have invited schools in the Eastern area -- Hamilton, Smith's and St. George's, to come in at different times during the day. "We will have a narcotics display cabinet so people can see the drugs which are being abused and we will also have a display of offensive and prohibited weapons.'' Police officers are people too, added Chief Insp. Bridgeman, and to illustrate that to the public, the station will showcase the art of one of its men. "We have an officer, Frank Dublin, who is an artist and we will have some of his work on display.

We want the public to see that officers have interests similar to some of them. "On the exhibition side, we have historic photographs of the Police Service and we also have photographs from different scenes of crime; pictures showing people who have been physically abused and some from different murder scenes. They won't be the really grotesque ones of course, just those that can be viewed by the public.'' The public will also have the opportunity to participate in some of the demonstrations, he added. "We will have an exercise demonstrating fingerprint taking. And one of the things I stress at any demonstration, is that the prints are given to the person or immediately destroyed. We will also have parish constables present to answer questions and meet with residents and have a display on the Police Reserve Service. And we will offer a free `u-marking' service on that day for any cycles or valuable items which owners may then be registered with the Police. We hope that it's one of the big attractions.'' PHOTO Chief Insp, Vendal Bridgeman MINI SUPPLEMENT SUP