Parkersburg Police Plan Night Out for Saturday | News, Sports, Jobs

Children interact with Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board (second from left), K-9 Hawk and his handler, Sergeant CA Miller, during the 2022 National Night Out celebration at City Park. (File photo)

PARKERSBURG – The Parkersburg Police Department is hosting its seventh annual National Night Out on August 6.

The event starts at City Park from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and then moves to the Splash Pad from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Night Out is a national event that brings together law enforcement agencies across the country to connect with their communities. National Night Out began its history in 1984 with over 2.5 million participants in four states and over 400 communities.

“It’s about building contacts with the community and improving relationships with the community,” said police Lt. Wendy Cox. “We focus on activities with children in the community.”

This year’s Night Out is set to be even better than previous years and will offer local young people a wide range of activities including a tunnel course, rock painting, kite building, face painting, a water playground and a plunge pool.

The event will also feature youth organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg, YMCA of Parkersburg, Discovery World and The Arc.

Participants also have the opportunity to try out a fire engine, police cars, 911 emergency services and an ambulance.

The goal of Parkersburg National Night Out is to create a better connection with the community and to bring residents, especially youth, into contact with police outside of situations where police intervention is necessary.

“I think it’s an opportunity for the kids to see police officers in a different light and to be able to interact with us in a more relaxed environment; not in response to a 911 call, because those can be the most difficult times in a person’s life,” Cox said: “We want to build a connection with the community, especially with the children. We want them to understand that they can turn to us at any time and that we are here to help them with anything.”

National Night Out is also an opportunity to volunteer in the community. Corporate and private volunteers are welcome, according to event coordinator Debbie Jeffrey.

“Our goal is to bring the community and the Parkersburg Police Department together. We are always looking for more activities that we can include,” Jeffrey said: “We want to keep making it bigger and better, so we welcome volunteers, whether they are individuals or a larger community organization. We would greatly appreciate any help offered to us to further this relationship.”

Gwen Sour can be reached at [email protected]