National Night Out kickoff party larger than ever

By PAMELA GRANT

Cove Leader-Press

Hundreds flooded downtown Copperas Cove to participate in Saturday’s National Night Out kickoff festivities which featured dozens of vendors, plenty of fun, and live entertainment.

National Night Out is a national campaign which focuses on building relationships between neighborhoods and law enforcement agencies. 

This year marks the 41st National Night Out nationwide and the 26th year that the Copperas Cove Police Department has hosted National Night Out.

This year, the police department hosted a big event downtown Saturday evening from 6 p.m until 10 p.m. Various neighborhoods hosted block parties during the week.

“National Night Out is an opportunity for the community to come out and join forces with the police department,” said Lieutenant Krystal Baker with the Copperas Cove Police Department. 

Lt. Baker organized this year’s NNO kickoff. “I always like for the community to see the human side of us.”

This year’s event featured about 70 different vendors with some selling food and/or various goodies, others giving away food or there to share information, and others providing entertainment. A few groups performed live at this year’s event including Michael Carubelli who provided a live musical performance. 

“Everyone seems to be happy and joyful,” said City Manager Ryan Haverlah. “I love it. The more we can interact with the community that we serve, the better.”

Members of the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association helped the police department with making the event a success.

“Our primary mission is supporting the police department,” said Robert Rodriguez, President of the Citizens Police Academy Alumni. “Our job is to spread the word and help the community to know that the police aren’t bad…We want to show that they are real people.”

Rodriguez said that it’s very important to show people the good side of the police department and help dispel any negative preconceived notions that they might have. He said that there a lot of people who hate the police just because they are police officers.

Rodriguez said that he and the other members of the Citizens Police Academy enjoy helping with National Night Out saying that it’s a great way to bring the community together and that it feels good seeing how happy everyone was. 

Andrew Hay brought his children, Wyatt Hay (10) and Maddie Hay (8) to National Night Out.

“We saw Paw Patrol!” said Maddie Hay. However, she added that her favorite part of the night was trying out the drunk goggles and using the pedal cars to get an idea of what it’s like driving impaired. “It was fun.”

“I think it’s been a great turnout,” said Andrew Hay. He said that they enjoyed watching the martial arts demonstration, checking out the military vehicles and the first responder vehicles. He said that his favorite part was the drunk driving demonstration. His son, Wyatt Hay agreed that the drunk driving demonstration was his favorite as well calling it fun, engaging, and informative.

The Hay family wasn’t alone in their appreciation of the demonstration.

“We’ve had a non-stop line all night,” said Kyle Herrera, Criminal Justice Career and Technology Education Teacher at Copperas Cove High School. He said that his students did use the drunk goggles last year, but this year they had the idea to combine the goggles with pedal cars provided by the police department. 

“The police department is why we’re here. It’s a big community event, so we can help people and spread awareness about what not to do while driving,” said David Jurado (18), president of the criminal justice club at Copperas Cove High School. Jurado is also in the Law Enforcement Explorer Program.

“The police have always been a big part of my life,” said Jurado. Several members of his family have served as police officers. Jurado also shared a story of when an officer personally made a big difference in his life. When he was only five years old, his grandmother had a stroke, and he remembers the mental health officer who stayed with him and helped him through the situation.

Jurado said that he hopes that events like National Night can help people to have a more positive view of our police officers.

“It helps build a bridge and that helps a lot of people,” said Jurado. “It helps build a stronger bond between police officers and their community…It’s also a block party where people can just come out and have fun.”