Town of Newburgh celebrates National Night Out

By Sarah Marren
Posted 8/15/19

Sometimes it seems like the only time that community members and law enforcement interact is during dangerous times of emergency, which can make seeing members of law enforcement unnerving or even …

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Town of Newburgh celebrates National Night Out

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Sometimes it seems like the only time that community members and law enforcement interact is during dangerous times of emergency, which can make seeing members of law enforcement unnerving or even scary since one automatically associates their presence with danger. Thankfully, there’s an annual event where the public can see their local law enforcement members in a more relaxed, more casual setting. National Night Out lets law enforcement play games, have fun, and make friends with the members of their community while at the same time teaching the community how to stay safe and aware, never abandoning their duty to safety and protection.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes law-enforcement-neighbor partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make the community a safer place. Fun and educational activities include barbecues, safety demonstrations, outdoor games, face painting, Q & A with the local police, live music, a dunk tank and more. The goal of National Night Out is meant to enhance the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community as well as provide a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.

“The only times officers get to see the public or the public get to see officers is in a time of crisis. This was set up so we could interact each other outside of times of crisis and get to know each other as individuals,” said Officer Katherine Otero of the Town of Newburgh Police Department. It’s also used as an opportunity for the police to educate the community on crime and drug prevention awareness, how they can keep their homes and families safer using the latest home security system technology. Above all, this event is meant to send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are working together to fight back.

According to Otero, Newburgh had attempted to host National Night Out multiple times in the 11 years she’s been there, but this is the first time everyone’s gotten together to organize it in years. There were about 11-15 officers from the Town of Newburgh Police Department present at the event, while others were directing traffic, staying at the station or rotating shifts with officers at the event for a limited amount of time before returning to their posts. National Night Out was a collaboration with the Town of Newburgh Recreation Department, whose camp counselors were first year National Night Out volunteers helping organize the event. Other law enforcement members were from Town of Newburgh Emergency Medical Services, Cronomer Valley Fire Department, and Town of Newburgh Fire Department.

There was an array of vendors representing local small and large businesses that made donations to National Night Out. Large businesses like Shake & Grind, Hannaford and Stop & Shop provided food, large businesses like Target and Barton Chevrolet provided monetary donations, and Wal-Mart and NH Mobile Car Wash had raffles and prizes. Organizations like the Town of Newburgh Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and Keep it Moving provided safety demonstrations, tying back to National Night Out’s goal of making communities a safer place for the people who live in it. Newburgh Volunteer Ambulance provided CPR training and Keep it Moving provided On-the-Spot Narcan training, even providing Narcan Training Kits to the patrons.

“It’s been a great experience being a part of National Night Out because it was so easy to get involved,” said Donnette Smith, co-director of Keep On Moving.

The National Association of Town Watch started the National Night Out campaign in August of 1984. An already established network of law enforcement agencies, neighborhood watch groups, civic groups, regional crime prevention associations and volunteers introduced National Night Out across the nation. The first National Night Out involved 2.5 million neighbors across 400 communities in 23 states. Since then, National Night Out has grown to include over 36 million participants and over 16,500 events nationwide.

Nowadays, the event is held on the first Tuesday of August in most communities, with Texas holding theirs on the first day of October.