By Priya Desai and Rachel Buigas-Lopez
Staff Writer and Design Editor
On Oct. 7, the City of Coppell held its 31st annual National Night Out. The town was filled with food trucks, bounce houses and more family fun at 68 block parties held all over the town, all organized by the Coppell Police Department.
National Night Out is an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities for the entire family, to strengthen the partnerships between the community and police and to send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized to fight crime.
By hosting these successful block parties, the Coppell Police Department won first place in the National Night Out Awards in the population category of 15,000-49,999.
“It is truly a great accomplishment to be selected and recognized as number one in the nation by the National Association of Town Watch,” Coppell police chief Mac Tristan said.
While each block party was organized by a different team, Coppell’s public information officer Sharon Logan said this was a long process that the police worked on for a majority of the year.
“The NNO activities usually begin in late spring and early summer,” Logan said. “This helps to keep awareness high and people involved for more than just an evening. To top it off, the large numbers of parties show that residents and businesses want to make crime prevention a priority thus continuing to share and spread the word.”
The police worked very hard to put on this event and delegated different officers to different block parties. They worked with the community to bring the block parties to life for the community to enjoy and take part in crime prevention. The Coppell Police are not the only ones that should be credited for the award, according to Tristan.
“This honor does not belong to the Coppell Police Department alone. This was an accomplishment by the entire City of Coppell, it’s citizens and community leaders,” Tristan said.
National Night Out is not just a night to spread crime prevention throughout the community, but, for Coppell, it is also about the police getting to interact with the community in a fun and relaxed way.
“National Night Out provides the Coppell Police Department an opportunity to meet the residents and engage with them, discussing problems and opportunities, exchanging ideas and generally just getting to know each other,” Logan said.
In a time in America when the police are distrusted by the their communities, the Coppell police department is continuously working to fight this generality. Coppell High School senior Jazzy Alvarez attended her local block party in Magnolia Park and commented on seeing the reason first hand at the event why this is true, describing the exchanges between the police and Coppell residents as similar to those between “long lost brothers”.
“[The police] still made the time to talk to everyone there and [answer] any question the neighbors had for them,” Alvarez said. “It might have been about a new traffic light they didn’t like or a ticket they thought they didn’t deserve; I still did not see one police officer get mad. They were very patient and understanding which made us, the community, proud.”
This shows the tireless effort that the police are always putting in to keep these types of bonds strong with the community, whether it is on National Night Out or throughout the year. Coppell Police has been a huge asset for the community, keeping it safe, and when crime does occur, calm and protected.
“It goes back to the goal of preventing crime,” Logan said. “Neighbors look out for each other, police officers have multiple opportunities to share prevention tips and everyone is on the same page when it comes to keeping the community safe. When this type of exchange happens, all [the block parties] tend to work together even better because they share the common goal of preventing crime.”
It was a great night for both the community and the police, and this was exhibited by the police being ranked number one in the nation.
“For the Coppell Police Department, National Night Out is not a one evening out of the year event. It is a year round initiative,” Tristan said. “That’s what makes us different. That’s why we were selected. We live and work in a great community. The Coppell Police Department is grateful for the support and involvement of our citizens. Congratulations to the entire City of Coppell for this award.”
