The Duluth, Minnesota, Police Department (DPD) has rolled out a new community engagement tool: a bus. The bus was donated to the DPD by the Duluth Transit Authority and provided through the Justice Assistance Grant, which focuses on community policing initiatives.

“Since it’s a community engagement bus, we opened up naming it to the community,” said Chief Mike Tusken. “There were more than 350 people who weighed in on their favorite name. Code4 received the majority of the public’s vote, so that’s the name of the bus.”

The Duluth Police Department’s goal with Code4 is to provide those in the community an opportunity to meet its officers in a "tasteful" way. During the summer, the bus will be traveling around Duluth providing ice cream treats to children, and in the winter it will be stocked up with hot cocoa. Code4 will also be used during community events, as a recruitment tool, as an emergency shelter for evacuees, as a mobile break room for cops at special events, and more.

“This bus is another tool in our toolbox that we can use to engage with the community in an innovative way,” said Officer James Forsyth.