Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
In celebration of National Night Out, local first responders of the River Region gathered in Prattville Thursday evening for a night of fellowship, education and live demonstrations.
The Prattville Fire Department, Prattville Police Department, Autauga County Sheriff’s Office, Autauga County Schools, Millbrook Fire Department, Alabama State Troopers, Maxwell Airforce Base, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency or ALEA, local churches and other public safety agencies and organizations were in attendance of the free public event.
Kids participated in games, while troopers, police officers, firefighters and other agencies let kids explore the fire trucks, police cars and other tactical equipment. First responders were available for kids and the community to ask questions about the gear first responders have to wear, how certain things work, and most importantly helped to educate the community.
The Prattville Police Department’s Lt. T.R. Hope was the brains and coordinator behind Prattville’s Community Night event, celebrating National Night Out on a local level.
“We’re always just trying to come up with ways for our department to bridge the gap between our department and the community and to bring out all these other public safety agencies,” Lt. Hope said.
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships. The goal is to create neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live, according to the National Night Out Organization website.
Millions of neighbors across all 50 U.S. states, territories and military bases worldwide participate by hosting parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other various events to bring the community together. By coming together, the event also showcases local public safety agencies and bridges the gap with the community and first responders.
“A lot of these agencies are really excited to be a part of an event like this. They want to come out and be a part of the community, and we have a lot of partners around the area that are really excited to work together,” Lt. Hope said.
National Night Out was established in 1984, according to its website. The event was established with a network of law enforcement agencies, neighborhood watch groups, civic groups, state and regional crime prevention associations and volunteers across the nation. The first annual National Night Out involved 2.5 million neighbors across 400 communities in 23 states.
Now the event spans to millions throughout the U.S. and nationwide as well as to the River Region for a night well spent.
“This event is about all these different areas of our community to come together, just to show off some of the stuff that we (the agencies in attendance) do and let people learn about what we do with our agencies, but it’s also about bringing the community together for fellowship and to have some good food and to hang out,” Lt. Hope said.
