Parkersburg Police Department sets Night Out for Tuesday
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PARKERSBURG -- The Parkersburg Police Department will host its seventh annual National Night Out on Aug. 6.
The event will start in City Park from 1-4:30 p.m. and will then move to the splash pad from 5-8 p.m.
Night Out is a national event that law enforcement agencies across the country participate in to connect to their communities. National Night Out began its history in 1984 with over 2.5 million participants stretching across four states and over 400 communities.
"It's an outreach to the community, to make connections and improve relations with the community," said Police Lieutenant Wendy Cox. "We're focused on activities with kids in the community."
This year's Night Out is on track to improve from previous years boasting a wide variety of activities for local youth to participate in. Those will include a tunnel course, rock painting, kite making, face decorating, the splash pad, and a dunk tank.
The event will also feature appearances from youth organizations such as The Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg, The YMCA of Parkersburg, Discovery World and The Arc.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to interact with a fire truck, police cruisers, 911 Mobile Command and an ambulance.
Parkersburg National Night Out aims to create a better connection to the community and to connect residents, particularly youth, with the police department outside a situation where police involvement is necessary.
"I think it's an opportunity for the kids to see police officers in a different light and be able to interact with us in a more relaxed environment; not in response to a 911 call, because those can be some of the most difficult times of a person's life," Cox said, "We want to make that connection with the community especially with the kids. To help them understand that they can approach us at any time and that we are there to help them with anything."
National Night out is also an opportunity to volunteer in the community. According to Event Coordinator Debbie Jeffrey, volunteers are welcome either from businesses or individuals.
"Our goal is to bring the community and Parkersburg Police Department together, we're always looking for more activities to include," Jeffrey said, "We're looking to make it bigger and better every (year) so we welcome volunteers whether it be individuals or a bigger community organization; we would greatly appreciate any help that is offered to us to foster that relationship."
Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com