Have you seen the new cards floating around downtown? 

On  Jan. 5, the Ashland Police Department (APD) released a new community engagement initiative.  

The goal is for officers to “step outside the uniform and have a conversation with someone and to be seen as people instead of officers,” said Police Chief David Lay. 

It all started last year when Tim Black, of Tim Black Photography, mentioned to Chief Lay that he would like to make cards similar to baseball trading cards for the APD. “I wanted to get kids excited to see police officers,” said Black, also a full-time history teacher at Northwestern Local Schools.  

Once Lay and Black figured out a plan, they had to find a sponsor to donate the cards to the APD. That’s when Wendy Anderson, broker and owner of NextHome Next Stepp entered the scene.  

“I saw a post on Tim’s page and knew I wanted to be involved,” said Anderson. “I told Tim, ‘I’ll do it, but I’d like to sponsor the whole program.’”  

On July 6, 2025, an $800 deposit was made for the cards to start being produced.  

While the cards were in the production process, Lay decided it would be interesting to make this a challenge for the community, so he set out on a journey to figure out what the challenge and reward would be.  

“I decided that part of the challenge is to make sure you collect all the cards,” said Lay. “I also wanted to do something more exclusive than the merchandise we give away at community engagement events.” 

That’s when Lay thought of a challenge coin. “A challenge coin is issued to someone who does something extraordinary or above and beyond. Part of the challenge is to make sure you collect all 34 cards.” 

This task may seem easy, but it is far from it. To collect these cards, one must find the officer they are looking for in public.  

As long as the officer isn’t actively responding to a call or doing anything that could put the collector in danger, all the collector must do is walk up to the officer and ask for their card. Another way to get cards is to stop by the police station and see which officers are in.  

Once someone has all 34 cards, they can take them to the police station to redeem their prize. The cards are the collectors to keep and are just needed to be seen as proof of having all of them.  

The prize not only includes the change coin, but a drawstring bag full of different things such as a fingerprinting kit, sticky notes, coloring kits and more.  

The program will be offered throughout the year as a way to connect with the Ashland Community.