National Night Out in Inkster a Fun Evening for All

On Tuesday, August 3, the Inkster Police Department hosted National Night Out in the department parking lot for the community to come out and mingle with the officers. The event lasted from 5 to 9 p.m. and included nearly two dozen community businesses and organizations that set up booths to provide information and giveaways to attendees. Free food, including popcorn, hot dogs, and ice cream were part of the fun and police vehicles were available for kids to climb in and check out as well.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make neighborhoods safer. Millions take part in National Night Out across the nation on the first Tuesday each August. "It's way more than just giving back to the community, it's having the community come out and have brotherhood and sisterhood with the police department and bring the neighborhood together," said Inkster Police Chief William Riley. "The biggest thing that I like about it is we have all these vendors come out, they have special programs for people in the community that they can use, from free food to medical assistance to mental health, you name it, we got it here."

Barbara Green hosted a vendor table representing the non-profit organization Operation Refuge, which offers free services and programs to all ages in the Inkster community. "We want to get the word out to people who don't know about our organization, what we're doing matters in this community" she said, adding that programs for youth that focus on education and higher learning are important for creating responsible citizens.

In addition to giveaways and free food, the evening included a DJ, live music, basketball competitions, bounce house, a dunk tank, video game truck, face painting, henna artist, and an appearance by Wildlife Safari and its collection of unique and exotic animals. Riley affirmed his participation in the event by being the first to volunteer to sit in the dunk tank, along with Inkster Councilmember Steve Chisholm, who later volunteered in the dunk tank. Chisholm commended the event's goal of breaking down barriers that often exist between residents and police officers, adding, "It really shows how the police can interact with the community of all ages."

Inkster Police Detective Andrea Lebo said, "It's amazing to see everyone together at once. My favorite part of this event is the police and the community coming together under one common cause: to have a free, fun night out."