News Photo by Reagan Voetberg The Alpena County Sheriff’s Office debuted the Scoop Squad ice cream truck at the HPC Credit Union Fourth of July Parade in Alpena.

ALPENA — If you attended the Fourth of July parade in Alpena, you may have seen a brand-new addition to the Alpena County Sheriff Office’s fleet: an ice cream truck.

The truck was formerly an ambulance, Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith said. Now, it is wrapped in blue, covered in sprinkles, and labeled “Scoop Squad”. The truck’s design also features two polar bears carrying ice cream cones and wearing law enforcement uniforms.

The truck was slated to be scrapped or sold, but instead, the Alpena County Board of Commissioners gave the truck to Smith. The conversion of the ambulance to an ice cream truck was paid for by Bruce and Julie Dietz. They also paid for the first round of ice cream, Smith said.

Smith plans to go to any youth events in the area to hand out ice cream. The truck will be at the Michigan Brown Trout Festival as well as other community events. He said he has had five requests to be at events in the past three days.

Depending on the day, you may see Smith or other deputies from the office serving the community ice cream.

The truck may also be used by other law enforcement agencies in the area, like the Alpena Police Department, to create positive interactions with law enforcement in the community.

The work inside the truck was done by Superior Fabrication, Smith said, and the outside wrap on the vehicle was designed and applied by Harborside Tint.

If any service groups want to provide ice cream, they can reach out to Smith, he said.

“It’s great to see the kids, children, and community members look at law enforcement in a different light,” Smith said, adding that law enforcement personnel “are everyday people and we just like giving back, that’s why we do the things we do.”

Smith said he wanted to thank the board of commissioners and Bruce and Julie Dietz for providing and paying for the truck.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.