Community Supports RBPD Blood Drive

Forty-eight people donated a pint of their blood to the blood drive for the last Wednesday.

The Red Cross Bloodmobile was parked outside the Police Department from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., and multiple city officials—including Councilman Matt Kilroy and Assistant City Manager Peter Grant—and police officers participated.

To entice people to donate, the Red Cross offered a Battle of the Badges T-shirt, a coupon for a free appetizer from Mimi's Cafe and a voucher for two tickets to a Los Angeles Clippers game.

"Truthfully, I probably wouldn't have done it if they weren't giving out Clippers tickets," said Tim Gilmour, who drove in from Gardena to give blood.

This isn't the first year the Police Department has competed in the Battle of the Badges. Michael Klein, a public works manager who works out of the Police Department, also participated in the 2010 blood drive.

So far, the Redondo Beach Police Department is ranked fifth in the number of units collected out of all the participating agencies. The U.S. Border Patrol in El Centro donated 68 units, the American Medical Response Team in Lancaster donated 59 units, the Jurupa Valley Sheriff Station donated 53 units, and the Moreno Valley Police Department donated in 52.