PHOTOS: National Night Out Draws Thousands of Alexandria Residents Outdoors to Mingle with Police Officers and City Officials Over Free Cookouts and Ice Cream
“This is an incredible opportunity to come together with the residents and the business owners from all the different neighborhoods. It's very special what's happening in Alexandria tonight!” Alexandria Interim Police Chief Raul Pedroso
ALEXANDRIA, VA – In the late afternoon on Tuesday August 6, the air hung heavy as the sun beat down unforgivingly, a dense humidity enveloping the city. But slowly, Alexandria residents reluctantly left their air-conditioned havens to turn out for this grand outdoor festival, mirrored all across the city.
It was National Night Out and Alexandrians spilled out onto squares and parks and neighborhood blocks for a chance to mingle with police, fire, and city officials, and talk about ways to make their streets safer. The mood was festive, the night replete with free barbecues, cookouts, picnics, ice cream, games, and giveaways, but the undertone was sobering. How to take a bite out of crime by building community and relationships with local police officers.
“It is community coming together all around the city,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson told Zebra. The mayor and police chief arrived together at John Carlyle Square Park. Between grabbing a quick dinner and dashing off to the next neighborhood gathering, the mayor took time out to talk to Zebra.
“It’s a celebration of the partnerships that we have between public safety and the community and the work that these guys do day in and day out,” the mayor offered. “You see it all around the community. Whatever neighborhood you are in, there’s a deep appreciation for the work that these folks do as well as the commitment to the partnerships that we have to keep our community safe.”
National Night Out is a celebration of community and public safety agencies coming together to promote community policing partnerships.
Alexandria boasted 45 National Night Out sites scattered all across town.
One of the more elaborate ones is run by The Carlyle Council. Morgan Babcock is Council manager. An hour and a half into the event, she admitted attendance was a little down because of the oppressive heat but she expected it to pick up as the evening wore on. She said her agency may provide misting stations next year. Meanwhile, festival-goers cooled themselves off in the attractive fountains at the center of the square. Bottled chilled water was one of the freebies and might just have been the hottest commodity that evening.
Babcock pointed out that a large focus of their fair is teaching commuters to explore alternate means of transportation.
“The Carlyle Council puts on several events each year, educating people on how to commute efficiently and not use Single Occupancy Vehicles,” Babcock stressed. Carlyle has several alternate ways of getting to work to reduce our carbon footprint, with Metro, VRE (Virginia Railway Express), buses, and bike share stations all within walking distance.
Zebra asked Mayor Wilson about the emphasis on alternate commuter options at the Carlyle festival. “I think the reason Carlyle is doing this is because they’re complying with their transportation management plan that the city imposed when they built this development,” the mayor responded.
“That’s a great example of a public-private partnership that provides resources for non-vehicular transportation. Providing funding for carpools, providing funding for transit fares, providing funding for bike and pedestrian commuting. That’s a partnership with the city and it comes out of our land use policies. The work that we’ve done around Dash and now WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) and rethinking our bus system; these are all efforts to provide viable alternatives to folks getting into a car.”
Are all these efforts working? Zebra asked the mayor.
“Absolutely! the mayor beamed. “No question about it! Certainly in the city, on the DASH side, we lead the way in the nation in post-pandemic recovery on ridership. We’ve been able to increase bike and ped usage in the city, we’ve been able to decrease the use of single-occupancy vehicles, so it’s absolutely working! It’s resources, it’s land use policy, it’s the private partnerships, it’s a whole bunch of things all going in the same direction.”
What is the purpose of National Night Out?
The goal of National Night Out is to increase crime prevention awareness, generate support for crime prevention programs, feel safe to walk and use transit, and send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized, and working with law enforcement and public safety agencies to help prevent crime.
“Yes, it’s the food, it’s the bounce houses, it’s the fun things, but really, ultimately what we’re looking for is that connection,” Alexandria Interim Police Chief Raul E. Pedroso told Zebra in an interview. “So we have officers in every one of these organized events and we’re just connecting, exchanging information because that is gonna go a long way when it comes to public safety in the future. It’s having those relationships and that trust that’s going to lead to people picking up the phone, calling us, trusting us to bring us into their homes and talk about what’s concerning them, what are the problems in their neighborhood.”
Elected officials bounced all over town Tuesday night, trying to hit up as many neighborhood gatherings as possible in a four-hour window.
Alexandria Police and first responders helping build community and trust
Alexandria Councilman John Taylor Chapman reflected on city policing in the wake of the George Floyd murder four years ago. In an interview with Zebra, Chapman noted effective ways the city police department interacts with its residents to build community and trust.
“Our officers and first responders get to know the community, particularly those who may have mental health challenges. Being able to respond to somebody that’s having a mental health episode and the appropriate way where everyone is safe, is one of the things that sometimes comes out of knowing the individuals within the community,” Chapman weighed in.
“I think that’s been a part of the conversation. Having additional officers there to deal with mental health episodes is also something that we’ve taken into consideration as we move forward,” the councilman concluded.
By the time the evening wound down, vendors broke down their stalls, and the Carlyle DJ spun his last tune, thousands of Alexandrians had attended the network of National Night Outs sprinkled throughout Alexandria.
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