If you heard the blare of police sirens and the honking of a fire truck engine coming from Main Avenue in Durango on Tuesday night, don’t worry – no one was responding to a pileup or high-speed chase.
Local law enforcement was just bonding with the community at this year’s National Night Out, which included tours and demonstrations of the specialty vehicles used on the job.
Upward of 200 Durangoans turned out at Buckley Park to mingle with the Durango Police Department, La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, Animal Protection officers and other local public safety agencies.
“It’s a great time for just us to get to know them, and for them to get to know us as just people,” said Sgt. Adrian O’Haver with the Sheriff’s Office. “We might be in uniform, but if you look around right, everyone that’s here smiling, having a great time, and I think that it makes people more likely to engage with us.”
Groups of children clambered into firetrucks and patrol cars, played cornhole with officers and danced around in a foam pit set up on the a section of park grass.
Officers in full uniform joked around with people who stopped by to chat, wide grins on their faces.
“I think it’s nice to see them enjoying themselves and not being so serious,” said a local mom waiting in line with her daughter to try on “drunk goggles.”
National Night Out is a community-building campaign meant to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. Durango, like many cities around the country, has celebrated the event since the 1980s.
Last year’s event was canceled because of rain, and previous years were plagued by low turnout and limited coordination, one sheriff’s deputy said.
This year was different.
Durango Police Chief Brice Current said there were more first responders and community partners involved than ever before, and turnout was record-breaking – likely double that of previous years, he said.
The food, donated by Michael Stratton of Serious Texas BBQ, was gone early in the evening – and there was a lot of it, Current said.
Just minutes after the 5 p.m. start, the line of hungry attendees stretched across the width of the park.
Gatherings like National Night Out are vital to the work of law enforcement and emergency responders, Current said.
“You can’t have trust without relationships. And trust is vital to the success of any organization,” he said. “People have to trust us to even be able to call us if they’re in trouble. Even calling the police is a big step for a lot of people, so they have to trust that we’re going to be appropriate and take the right action when we do show up.”
A good relationship with the community has a positive impact on their work, echoed several of the first responders in attendance.
The uniforms can be intimidating if someone has never had a positive interaction with law enforcement before, said a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office.
Events like these, he said, give people a chance to feel more comfortable with “those of us out here trying to serve and protect the community we love.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
