Flipping hamburgers and grilling hot dogs, Shippensburg University campus police ditched their uniforms Thursday night to socialize with students.

Picnic with Police brought campus, local and state police together at the SU hockey rink, drawing more than 100 students to the venue.

Chartwells donated burgers, hot dogs and all the fixings while the Residence Hall Association provided popcorn.

Some visitors danced to the DJ’s music while others claimed seats at tables to chow down.

Several officers brought their family members to the event. Faculty dropped in to show support.

Many students in attendance were interested in becoming future police officers.

“It’s something I’ve always felt passionate about,” sophomore Ashleigh Castaldi said, wearing a “blue lives matter” T-shirt.

Once she completes her degree in criminal justice, Castaldi hopes to enter the police academy.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about cops,” Castaldi said.

Campus Police Chief Cytha Grissom always had the desire to host a social event for the students, officer Julie Clark said, but the recent news in the media surrounding police drove Clark to pick up the planning process.

“I’m thrilled. I couldn’t be happier with it,” Clark said of the event.

Building good relationships with students is important to the campus police, Clark said, who came up with the picnic idea when she heard other police departments hosted similar events with success.

Grissom served up Rita’s Italian Ice while Pennsylvania State Police troopers Angel Garcia and Ed Asbury of the Chambersburg barracks manned the food station.

Students moved through the long line, chitchatting with police about their majors and where they live.

Senior Brian Gallagher had a special interest in speaking with the troopers. He wants to be one of them.

“Since I was a kid I wanted to be an officer,” Gallagher said, who is president of the criminal justice club.

The media gives officers a bad reputation, Gallagher said, but he believes most officers are good people. Events like Picnic with Police help show that.

“It’s really important for the police to connect with the community,” Gallagher said.

Freshman Ruben Rosado came to Picnic with Police to talk to officers about internship opportunities. He is the first in his family to attend college and wants to get experience in the field as soon as possible.

SU President George “Jody” Harpster came to the event with his wife Leslie. Harpster made friends with 4-year-old Bella Thrush, the granddaughter of the campus police’s office manager, Jeannette Chamberlain. Bella ran around the hockey rink, enjoying the music and people around her.

“We needed to find a way to make sure the community had an opportunity to understand what campus police and local policing are about,” Harpster said.

He said Clark approached him last summer with idea. Harpster encourages positive interactions between police and students.

“They’re real people, too,” Harpster said. “They’re just like you and me.”

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