Community members turn out for annual National Night Out
By Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
Breckenridge residents turned out Tuesday evening to celebrate National Night Out at the Stephens County Law Enforcement Center.
Breckenridge Police Chief Bacel Cantrell said the annual event gives law enforcement and the other participating organizations a chance to interact with the members of the community in an informal atmosphere.
“It just puts faces to people’s names and things like that, so, you know, people will come by and get to talk with us and see everyone under a very friendly and laid back atmosphere,” he said.
Cantrell said kids really enjoy getting to interact with the emergency personnel and see their equipment first hand. “The lights and getting in the squad cars and fire trucks and ambulances and all that stuff, yeah they love it,” he said.
Stephens County Sheriff Kevin Roach echoed Cantrell’s sentiments.
“Well, the intention is for the public to interact with law enforcement on a laid back, non-law enforcement business,” he said. “It’s (a chance) for us to get to know the community and the community to get to know us and then provide resources they may not have known existed or how to access them.”
Those attending National Night Out in Breckenridge last week had an opportunity to visit booths from several local organizations. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
For example, Roach said, they had a lot of information on ID theft, and that was one of the popular things that people asked about on Tuesday night. Other topics he said they were asked about were things like how to start a neighborhood watch group in some of the populated areas in the county or the Take Me home program.
In past years, one of the highlights at the event has been the landing of the Air Evac helicopter. The landing was scheduled again this year; however, Cantrell said, the helicopter crew was called out on an emergency at the last minute and could not make it.
The Breckenridge Police Department, Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, Breckenridge Fire Department and others provided free food, drinks, activities, games, prizes and more, including a child ID/fingerprinting booth.
“It was a good night,” Cantrell said. “The weather was perfect. It wasn’t overcrowded, traffic flowed, and it stayed busy the whole time. So overall, it was pretty great.”
Click here to see more photos in the Breckenridge Texan Photo Gallery.
Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge Police Detective Jay Walker creates an ID/fingerprint card for Kason Curtis at National Night Out. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Make sure you don’t miss any of the Breckenridge Texan’s news…click here to sign up for our email newsletter, the Weekly News Roundup. It has links to stories, photo galleries and more! It’s free to sign up, and it comes to you on Monday mornings (Tuesdays, after a holiday).
