That National Night Out offers community outreach with local law enforcement

44 minutes ago

J.W. Dennison,

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Muskingum County law enforcement agencies came together for the National Night Out on Tuesday.

The Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, Zanesville Police Department, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol participated in the nation wide outreach program at Riverside Park. The goal of the program is to give the community a positive experience with local law enforcement through an evening of education and fun for local families.

“We bring out all the big toys, the drones, the dogs, the BearCat,” said Patrol Sgt. Ryan Dodson with the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office. “We get to give them stickers and wristbands and stuff. They have a lot of fun with that stuff with the candy and the junior deputy badges and seeing their faces with all the equipment, that’s the best part.”

The event organizers also invited the Zanesville-Muskingum Health Department to the National Night Out event. According to the department’s public information officer, Jennifer Hiestand, the partnership is a great chance to teach kids about emergency preparedness.

“I like that all the kids come out and a lot of them are really interested in law enforcement, which is neat to see. And there’s even a little girl here that’s dressed up as like a little officer. She’s in like a little costume,” Hiestand said. “So it’s just neat that all the kids are here and they’re out and excited and they’re really smart. They know all the answers to all of our questions, so I guess they’re ready to go back to school.”

According to the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), the organizer of National Night Out, Zanesville was one of 113 cities in Ohio to host a night out. The National Night Out takes place every year on the first Tuesday of August.

This is the second year that the Muskingum County community has participated in the National Night Out program, which has been around since 1984. It started in 400 communities in 23 states and is now in around 17,000 communities in all 50 states, according to NATW.