PPD to hold National Night Out Tuesday

Around 800 people expected to attend

The Porterville Police Department will still hold its annual National Night Out event from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at Fallen Heroes Park.

National Night Out, a community-police awareness-raising event in the U.S., is usually held the first Tuesday of August even though Texas and Florida have the option to use the alternate date of the first Tuesday in October to avoid hot weather.

This year it was exceptionally hot not only in those states, but in California as well, which is one of the reasons why the department decided to postpone the event, said Rick Carrillo, the administrative sergeant for the Porterville Police Department.

“There was a heat wave and it was extremely hot and we thought that might have also prevented people from coming out,” Carrillo said, adding that the department was also busy with hiring new personnel and coordinating a number of other activities in the city. “We had just a lot of stuff going on here in the department.”

However, instead of just not holding the event this year, Carrillo said Porterville Police Chief Eric Kroutil was “very, very adamant” about continuing the program because of the great turnout at the events in the past.

At last year’s event, which was held at Murry Park, Carrillo said around 400 residents attended. This year, he said the department is expecting around 800.

“The highlight, I think, is just going to be the crowd we are expecting,” Carrillo said. “We are hoping to really bring the community out to network with each other.”

To help, Carrillo said there won’t only be delicious, barbecued hot dogs, snow cones, music and games, but also nearly 50 businesses and organizations throughout the community with booths.

“Just a great variety of organizations that are coming out to show what they have to offer,” Carrillo said.

Holding this year’s event at Fallen Heroes Park, Carrillo said, is another way the department is trying to get more people in the community to participate.

“We want to try and cater to the entire city so our plan is to shift it [National Night Out event] around each year at a different location, a different venue to spread it out amongst the city that way everybody has a chance to have it local and nearby,” Carrillo said.

For the kids, Carrillo said there will be basketball games and other sporting events going on in the park’s grass area.

In addition to Kroutil and others from the Porterville Police Department, Carrillo said local representatives and a number of South County law enforcement agencies such as the California Highway Patrol and Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, will be in attendance to connect with community members.

Other than having a great time with family and friends, Carrillo said he also hopes attendees take advantage of the opportunity to meet with local law enforcement personnel.

“We will all be out there and we will be happy to get to know and meet the community that we serve,” Carrillo said.