The Evesham Township Police Department is excited to host National Night Out for the community at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
National Night Out dates to 1894 and was introduced through an already established network of law enforcement agencies, neighborhood watch groups, civic groups, state and regional crime prevention associations and volunteers across the nation. The goal is to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make neighborhoods safer, according to the campaign website. In the early 2000s, the Evesham Police Department held a similar program at Kain Park but eventually they partnered with the Evesham Township Town Watch Committee to host the community’s own National Night Out, which now continues to grow.
Attendees can expect to enjoy music, food, train rides, rock climbing, a hot air balloon display, inflatables, face painting, ice cream, a petting zoo, a reptile exhibit, K-9 demonstrations, a helicopter landing from the United States Marine Corps which is expected to happen around 6 p.m. and a fireworks display at 8:45 p.m. Thanks to the generosity of its sponsors and the Evesham Police Foundation, National Night Out is a free event. The Evesham Police Foundation is a nonprofit made up of volunteers who raise funds to offset some of the costs of programs and initiatives that’s not within the police department’s operating budget.
National Night Out is more than a good opportunity for the community to get together. It also serves a purpose for the residents to see the different resources that are not only available in the township but the different businesses and other groups that also exist, noted Chief of Police Thomas Reinholt, who’s in his 29th year of law enforcement and has served as Evesham’s Chief of Police for a year and a half.
“It reinforces one of our primary goals which is to be a part of the community,” Reinholt said. “The success that we’ve experienced with the police department and the relationships that we build and the trust that we establish with our residents… For so many people to come out to an event and interact with us and interact with other community members, it shows that that relationship and that trust and that connection is growing and continues to grow.”
The police department feels a deep connection to the community and vice versa, Reinholt added. But National Night Out is just one example of what the department does to keep that connection alive. Ice Cream with Police, sponsored by the Evesham Police Foundation, gave residents more opportunities to connect with their local police officers while savoring sweet treats earlier this summer, and on Saturday, Freeze Pop with a Cop will be held at the Starbucks in Target at 751 NJ-73 at 1 p.m.
“It gives us a great opportunity to be able to interact within the community, and I like the fact that we can go out and see people where they live, whether it be in a park, at a school or a fire house,” Reinholt said. “We’ve had kids riding on their bikes and families walking with (kids in) wagons, and it’s a good chance to spend a couple hours with different components of the community and have some ice cream.”
National Night Out will be held at 984 Tuckerton Road. A rain date has been scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 18.
