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Area police all in for National Night Out
Park Ridge Police Detective John Dorner gets splashed by Jackson Wambach, of Park Ridge, during last year's National Night Out events at Hodges Park. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: July 27, 2012 3:59PM
Area police departments will celebrate National Night Out on Aug. 7 with community gatherings, entertainment and opportunities to meet local police officers.
Unincorporated Maine Township’s National Night Out will again take place from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Dee Park, at Dee Road and Emerson Street, in unincorporated Maine Township. The event will feature demonstrations and information from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, the North Maine Fire Department and the Maine Township Office of Emergency Management. The Kalapadma Dancers, a South Asian dance troupe, will perform.
The night will also feature games for children, prizes, raffles and an announcement of the winners of a poster contest. The event will conclude with a “Lighting the Way Against Crime” observance.
In Park Ridge, the Police Department’s 8th annual National Night Out also will take place from 6:30-9 p.m. at Hodges Park, at Courtland and Vine avenues. The event will include informational booths from local organizations, as well as a doughnut-eating contest, dunk-a-cop, petting zoo, children’s games, music and tours of the Park Ridge Police Station. There will also be a free raffle and a chance to win a new bike, gift certificates and other prizes.
National Night Out gives citizens an opportunity to meet police officers, talk to their neighbors, learn about safety and take a stand against crime, according to the Park Ridge Police Department. Park Ridge residents are also encouraged to turn on their porch lights from 7-10 p.m. in support of National Night Out.
In neighboring Niles, Washington Park, 8950 Washington St., will again be the site of National Night Out activities. The evening will feature a self-defense demonstration, an opportunity to create child identification kits, McGruff the Crime Dog, a “fatal vision DUI” interactive course, demonstration by the Niles Police Department’s K-9, a youth presentation, titled “Yell, Run and Tell,” and a distracted-driving course.
Activities for children will include a moonwalk, dunk tank and balloon-making.
National Night Out is held across the country annually on the first Tuesday of August in an effort to increase awareness of crime and illegal drug use while strengthening neighborhoods and police-community partnerships.
