Police with the Parkersburg Police Department met with the community at the pool during National Night Out on Tuesday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Police Department held its ninth annual National Night Out on Tuesday with an evening focused on building community and having fun.

Hosted at City Park, the event included games from 3 to 5 p.m. with the splash pad open from 5 to 8 p.m. Entry to the swimming pool was free to the public for the evening as part of the campaign.

“It’s a national event that encourages interaction between the police and the community,” said Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board, adding they’ve involved the fire department and EMS as well.

National Night Out is a national campaign that focuses on building relationships in the community between law enforcement and neighbors. The campaign launched in August 1984 with 23 states, 400 communities, and 2.5 million people involved.

Since then the event has expanded to include cities like Parkersburg which started the campaign nine years ago with the exception of COVID in 2020. Board has been part of the event since he became chief of police roughly three and a half years ago.

Firefighters with the Parkersburg Fire Department helped show kids how to drive the firetruck at National Night Out on Tuesday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“The community really jumps on board with us to make this happen,” said Board. “Local businesses and private citizens through donations enable us to really show the kids a good evening.”

He wanted to give a special thanks to Dan Stephens who is the pastor of Bible Baptist Church for providing the food and refreshments each year.

“It’s great to be able to make a kid smile, laugh and they get to take stuff home and they get to swim and eat and have a good time,” said Board.

He said there were roughly 300-400 people in attendance at Tuesday’s event and it’s great getting to see the community gather and interact in a fun atmosphere.

“It’s such a great event, getting to see the officers helping the kids,” said lifelong Parkersburg community member Brenda Hickman.

The Parkersburg City Park pool was open free to the community from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday for the National Night Out annual event. Parkersburg held its ninth annual National Night Out on the first Tuesday of August. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

This was her first time attending the National Night Out and she enjoyed the evening of games and swimming with her family. Her daughter, Briana Hickman, moved to the city from Indiana and was in awe of the interactions between the community and the police.

“I saw an officer outside of the pool area helping a kid put their earring back in,” she said.

The Hickmans were among many members of the community who had the opportunity to enjoy the evening by the pool and meet officers and fellow neighbors.

Board also wanted to thank organizers such as Debbie Jeffrey, Parkersburg City Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl, Walmart, and the Mid Atlantic Maintenance for their efforts to make the yearly event possible.

The splash pad at the Parkersburg City Park was open from 5 to 8 p.m. for free for those attending the National Night Out on Tuesday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)