POKÉMON IN THE PARK
Rio Rancho police host a party for Pokémon Go players
As she navigated the tall grass of Cabezon Park on Friday night last weekend, 11-year-old Trinity Carillo had her eyes set and smartphone ready to catch her favorite Pokémon: an Eevee.
The light brown cat-like creature was one of more than 100 Pokémon that players of Pokémon Go, the new online video game craze, can try to catch with the help of a smartphone.
Trinity was one of hundreds of Pokémon hunters at the park attending a Pokémon Go event hosted by the Rio Rancho Police Department.
The late-night event was held between 9 and midnight, and featured large balloon lights, refreshments from Chick-fil-A and safety presentations by police officers.
Pokémon Go is a free, downloadable smartphone game from developer Niantic, a startup company formed within Google, which uses Google Maps’ GPS functionality to populate a player’s reality with nearby Pokémon.
Players are encouraged to explore their surroundings to find and collect Pokémon, and join online teams.
According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, Pokémon Go has been downloaded more than 75 million times since it was released July 5.
Rio Rancho Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Rogers said the event idea came from two officers who are avid fans of Pokémon Go and thought there was a good opportunity to reach out to the game-playing community.
“I guess there are two main ideas: One is to just get everybody in a safe place and be able to give them the opportunity to play here in a controlled environment and, secondly, to give them some safety tips,” Rogers said.
“We are giving a bit more specific advice insomuch as don’t trespass, be aware of where you’re at and who that property belongs to,” he said. “By all means, don’t traipse through somebody’s yard and get them all upset at you, and they’re calling the police because they have no idea what you’re doing.”
Groups of families with young children mingled on one side of the park’s field, while groups of teenagers roamed the other. Trinity caught Pokémon with her little brother, Cisco, and their father, Cisco, at a picnic table.
Reny Paguio and his son Jaylen, 11, were affixed to their phones in the middle of the field, checking their devices for nearby creatures. With a bright yellow Pikachu beanie, Jaylen was excited about the night’s event.
“We heard about this on the news and decided ‘Hey, let’s check it out,’” Reny Paguio said. “It’s cool that they organized something like this — a lot of people showed up, so that’s really cool.”
Miriam Scholl, 20, said she played the game with her mom and friends, and that she’s been attached to the Pokémon game series for years.
“I think it’s kind of nice to see everyone like this,” she said. “It’s really good for the community — I think we definitely needed something like this.”