On Tuesday, August 1, the City of Valparaiso held its annual National Night Out. The Valparaiso Police Department (VPD) traveled to neighborhoods all around Valparaiso to bond with community members, raise awareness, and, most importantly, thank everyone for their continued support in putting a stop to crime in our community.
National Night Out is a program put on by communities across the entire country. The program encourages citizens to organize fun events in their neighborhoods such as block parties, cookouts, and ice cream socials to show their unity against crime. Then, the police department participates by visiting each neighborhood to show its appreciation. VPD has been taking part in the National Night Out program for nearly two decades.
“We do this every year – it’s a great community event that gives us a chance to partner with our citizens. We get to meet new people and interact with all kinds of folks, our officers will bring lots of stickers, pencils, and toys to hand out to the kids, and we roll into the neighborhoods with our lights and sirens on to get everyone excited. It’s just great to get out into the community and spend time with the people we serve,” said Valparaiso Chief of Police Andrew McIntyre.
Valparaiso’s National Night Out is always a hit with the community, but more people decided to take part in this year’s event than ever before. Over the course of the evening, VPD visited 18 neighborhoods. As the officers rolled into each neighborhood with their sirens and lights blaring, dozens of people stood waiting along the sidewalk, eager to welcome their favorite first responders to their gatherings.
“Our officers always look forward to this event. Every year is such a huge success, and it’s great that we get to visit even more neighborhoods this year. Everyone is always so supportive and will hand out water and food to us while we’re traveling around. We definitely pride ourselves on the community relationships that we have and are glad we get to do this,” said McIntyre.
The event was the perfect opportunity for community members to connect with the VPD officers in a fun, casual way. The VPD officers had a blast getting down on their knees to hand out gifts to the kids and joking around with the parents.
“It allows us to establish relationships with people – it lets people see us past the uniform and get to know us on a more personal level. At these events, we really get to interact and have conversations with people which is important because, without the community’s support, we would not be successful in what we do. It’s very important to have our community’s trust, and we’re glad we get to do this to help build that trust,” said McIntyre.
The evening was also a great way for people to learn more about the police department in a relaxed setting. Attendees asked all kinds of questions about the police officers’ canines and things VPD is doing in the community.
“They get a chance to see more than just police cars. They get to see the different specialties we have and interact with our canine units and ask questions that they normally wouldn’t get to ask. It’s awesome,” said McIntyre.
What was really special about this year’s event, though, was that several local Secret Service agents came out to join VPD in greeting and educating the community. The Secret Service agents had a great time letting kids climb into their armored cars and take a look around. Kids also had a fun time trying on some of the agents’ gear.
Overall, this year’s National Night Out was a great way to bring the Valparaiso community together. The VPD is grateful to be part of such a supportive community and couldn’t be prouder to serve the city they call home.
“We want our citizens to feel comfortable reporting things to us and trust that we’re to help them. Without their support, we couldn’t be as successful as we are. There are several communities around Valpo that don’t have the same community support that we do, and it makes a huge difference. We are fortunate to have such a great community to live and work in and we pride ourselves on public safety and making a difference in our community,” said McIntyre.
To learn more about the City of Valparaiso, visit https://www.ci.valparaiso.in.us/.
