The Jemison Police Department and Jemison Municipal Court kicked off a community service project on Saturday.

Jemison Police Chief Shane Fulmer said the purpose of the project is to enlist individuals who have been sentenced to community service through the Jemison Municipal Court to spend the hours helping the city of Jemison.

“This Saturday we had three individuals who showed up and we spent time cleaning up the city,” Fulmer said. “The city has done an excellent job with litter, but we decided to focus on the neighborhoods and less traveled roads by just going around and picking up things.”

Fulmer said Jemison Deputy Chief Marc McMinn helped supervise the project on Saturday with the workers spending eight hours cleaning.

Fulmer said the group was provided with neon reflective vests, and a patrol car followed alongside the individuals for safety with motorists traveling along the roadways.

“As the group was walking picking up some of the litter, we had about 10-12 residents stop and help,” Fulmer said. “It was just a neat thing to have people step up and offer to help keep the city clean. This community service idea was presented to me by the municipal court, and I think it is an excellent program.”

Fulmer said the program will be offered once a month with different projects planned such as maintenance work at parks, litter cleanup, helping city employees with work at the cemetery and anything else that requires upkeep.

“There may come a time when a pavilion needs to be painted or something needs to be fixed at the park,” Fulmer said. “These individuals sentenced through the courts have a certain amount of hours of community service they have to meet for minor violations or offenses. We just felt like the community service program would be a good way to remind them of the reason they got in court. At the same time, we are providing this service to help benefit the city.”