Photo by Richard L. Gaw        Goodie packages provided by the Kennett Township Police Department was just one of many highlights at the National Night Out event held on Aug. 1 in Kennett Square.

 

By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer 

On a crisp Aug. 1 evening in the Kennett Borough parking lot on South Broad Street in Kennett Square, the uniformed men and women of local police and fire departments stood side by side with hundreds of area residents in celebration of an annual event that has become permanently etched on our nation’s calendar.

National Night Out, sponsored by Belfor Property Restoration and Wawa, served not only as an annual connector between protectors and their public, but as a collaboration between the Kennett Square Borough and Kennett Township police departments, the first since they last partnered on National Night Out before the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. The two departments and their officers were joined by the Longwood and Kennett fire companies and representatives from the Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company, State Police Avondale, Bittersdorf’s, Inc. Towing and Recovery, the Chester County Sherriff’s Department, Justice Works Youth Care, Kennett Area Community Service, the Kennett Consolidated School District, the Kennett Library, the Krapf School Bus Company, LCH and the Pennsylvania State Animal Response Team, as well as a canine demonstration, and various food trucks and entertainment vendors.

Together, they carried on what has become perhaps law enforcement’s most celebrated annual event. First introduced by the National Association of Town Watch in 1984, the inaugural National Night Out drew 2.5 area residents in 400 communities to celebrations that took place in 23 states. Over the past 40 years, the event has spread to every state in the nation and serves as a community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie in an effort to break down real and imaged barriers between law enforcement and the residents they serve and protect.

“This is an incredible opportunity to get everyone together, remove any of the fears and insecurities about policing and get our communities to see the officers for who they are: people – mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers – people who are doing a difficult job at times but a very valued job, and keep having those conversations,” said Kennett Borough Police Chief William T. Holdsworth.

For several years prior to COVID-19, the two departments collaborated on National Night Out events at the East Linden neighborhood in the borough, and when the pandemic began to dissipate last year and public events began again, it became evident that it was time for another partnership.

“[The Kennett Borough Police and the Kennett Township Police] may be representing two completely separate municipalities, just like we do with the East Marlborough Township Police and the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department, but we all work collaboratively, together,” Holdsworth said.

“The Kennett Borough Police and our department are both like-minded in the belief that we are both community policing-based, and for all of us to be able to be here in a non-911 or crisis response and be able to connect better prepares everyone for when we might be protecting them in a crisis situation response,” said Kennett Township Police Department Chief Matthew Gordon. “Should that crisis arise, a community member may have previously met an officer at National Night Out and is able to know the officer is not just as another cop, but know that the officer’s name is ‘Amanda.’

“Later on down the road, if they come into issues of crisis, they can find someone whom they trust. It goes just the same with fire and EMS units. Normally, the only time they are visible is during an emergency amid smoke and gas and people in pain, but here, it gives them a chance to interact with these officers.”

For both police departments, participation with the communities they serve does not end with National Night Out. Throughout the year, the departments regularly visit schools, community centers, participate in local events and are aligned with several well-established initiatives such as Kacie’s Cause, Safe Kids Online, Protecting Kids Online, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and anti-bullying campaigns.

“When we hold our coffee-with-a-cop or conduct public safety days, those kinds of events are important to building trust in our community,” Gordon said. “Over the last five or so years, the public’s response to law enforcement has not always been positive, so this is why it’s important to build these relationships now.

“What the general public normally doesn’t see is that all of us – fire, EMS and police units – interact with each other all the time. Events like this one allow the people we protect to see that close bond that we have.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].