The Carson City Sheriff’s Office is hosting its 15th annual National Night Out event Tuesday.
The event is meant to create better relations between police, fire and other public safety and the public as well as providing the community with resources available to keep them safe.
“Citizens need to know what they can do to prevent or report crime so we can catch it early but it also gives them good resources for them to use,” said organizer Carson City Deputy Lisa Davis. “It is important they know what’s here because they may think there is nothing that they can do about crime but that simply isn’t true.”
The event will have nearly 180 organizations, businesses and agencies out at Mills Park to inform citizens of the different ways they can protect themselves and their community while having fun with it.
“We know that crime exists in every community and it is important for citizens to take part in the solution to address crime and safety,” said Davis. “Every agency that participates has to have safety or crime prevention with their booth.”
And this year, National Night Out will feature a multitude of new activities, sponsors and participants, Davis said.
“I am excited that we have the old and the new this year,” Davis said.
This year will feature demonstrations and activities from Tahoe-Douglas Bomb Squad, Department of Environmental Protection, a drunk driving simulator from Washoe Tribal, a mock crime scene from the Crime Lab and more.
“I am excited about all of the creativity we will be seeing from the booths this year,” Davis said. “It isn’t the same as previous years because we have new stuff coming in this year.”
In addition to the new, attendees will see the normal staples including the Carson City Sheriff’s Office’s departments, the Carson City Fire Department, Nevada Highway Patrol, DEA, military representation and more.
Davis expects another high turnout this year; the last event brought nearly 11,000 people to the park.
“There is a clear message here that Carson City can come together and unify against crime and drugs,” Davis said. “We want to increase that safety because we will never have a perfectly safe world but we can work to better our safety.”
For example, CASI and Davis will be debuting a Dog Walker Watch Program at National Night Out. This program is designed to inform dog walkers about what they can do to call in and report if they see a crime or observe something suspicious.
“Dog walkers know their neighborhoods best and they know what is right and what’s not in that area,” Davis said. “So we want to introduce those little things to help prevent crimes.”
Since the start of National Night Out in Carson City 15 years ago, the Sheriff’s Department has seen a 12 percent decrease in juvenile crime rates. Davis said when she first started, the relationship between law enforcement and youth was in a bad place.
“When I first started with the department, the kids hated cops and the cops didn’t like the kids, there was no rapport and it was ugly,” Davis said. “People didn’t feel comfortable approaching the police and it really hurt the youth. But when we brought back the community programs, we didn’t know what the impact would be and today the police work with the kids and vice versa.
“National Night Out has turned around the whole relationship for the department and the community.”
The event is free to the public and runs from 5 to 8 p.m. There will also be free hot dogs and beverages available, courtesy of Grocery Outlet and Orh LLC.
“There is so much to be excited about this year for National Night Out and I am grateful to Carson City and the surrounding regions,” Davis said.