Update: Face painters needed to volunteer at the Health and Safety Fair. Contact Bervin Smith if you can help out — bervin.smith@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us

I haven’t always been comfortable around police officers. Since my teenagehood the men in blue were paired in my mind with traffic tickets and subsequent fines and/or court appearances (look, I have a history of questionable driving. I’m not proud, but it’s no secret).

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This morning, Advocate photographer Danny Fulgencio and I had breakfast with several northeast division cops. I will post photos and anecdotes soon, but I will tease this much: there was a point at which I, as well as our waitress and covertly some of the men at the table, had tears coming out of our faces and it had nothing to do with the discovery of my unpaid red-light camera tickets.

While we work on editing and posting those photos, I must help spread the word about this weekend’s Northeast Division Health and Safety Fair. This is an annual event, but note that this year there is a venue change. This year’s fair will happen at Lake Highlands High School (rather than at the substation on Northwest Highway where they used to hold it) from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

These fairs can be quite amusing. Last time I attended I met a bomb-sniffing dog and attempted to walk a straight line in intoxication-simulating goggles — good times. The northeast division encompasses Lake Highlands, the White Rock area and much of East Dallas.

NE COTB