People gathered to strengthen relationships with local law enforcement during annual National Night Out

National Night Out Events continued even with bad weather

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Tuesday’s annual National Night Out brought people together to strengthen relationships with local law enforcement

OMAHA, Neb. —

People gathered Tuesday night for National Night Out, an annual summer event to strengthen community relationships with local law enforcement.

This year marks the 43rd annual National Night Out. The National Night Out website says 38 million people and 17,000 communities participate in the event every year.

Tuesday’s cold rain and wind gusts put a damper on some of the activities, with many plans moved inside. Many events were canceled or postponed.

However, some events still went on and brought big crowds. Community members came together with officers to play games, watch movies and some even play during foam parties.

“I got attacked with some foam. I had some kids trying to lure me into the hydrant party, but they were not successful,” Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said.

Sheriff Hanson said National Night Out is always a good opportunity for neighbors to build strong relations with their first responders.

At the Police Athletic for Community Engagement, kids got the chance to play basketball and volleyball with local officers from the Omaha Police and Fire Departments.

“This is a perfect event for us. So at PACE, our main goal is to introduce kids to police officers in the community, law enforcement, other first responders. We use sports as a conduit to do that,” PACE Executive Director Julian Andrade said.

All activities Tuesday night had the same goal of allowing people in the community to interact with local law enforcement in a fun way.

“It shows that the people that are involved here today, they’re just other members of the community. They live and work in here. You know, for a lot of the kids in south Omaha, especially that first time that they interact with an officer might not always be in the most positive light,” Andrade said.

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