The Clovis Police Department hosted their 10th annual Clovis Night Out on Saturday Oct. 2 from 5 pm. to 8 p.m.
This event provides a way for the people of Clovis to communicate and interact with their local law enforcement.
“It’s a time for the community to get together with us to see what items we have, what we use, what we do, and people could ask questions and get to know the police department,” said Sgt. Jim Koch.
This is a family, and dog, friendly event that is filled with arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, and live entertainment.
This year, post-pandemic, there were some purposeful changes that needed to occur to keep the event safe to attend for the community.
“With the Covid concerns, we decided to shrink it down,” said Sgt. Koch.
This Clovis Night Out was held at Dry Creek Park on Clovis and Alluvial avenues as a result of the usual venue, the David McDonald Park, undergoing construction for the new Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
The parking lot for the event was full by 5p.m. and they had around 1,500 attendees.
They minimized the number of vendors this year to 14, and had about a dozen food trucks serving snow cones, popcorn, and corn dogs.
“I think with the way things are right now, we were happy to be able to pull it off and we had a good turnout,” said Sgt. Koch.
On the northern end of the park they had live music by a local band called Lady and The Tramps.
Attendees had set up chairs and blankets in the middle of the park to listen, and some even got up to dance.
There were different booths and demonstrations the officers showcased, this included vehicles, motorcycles, the police robot presented by the bomb squad, and even some drones.
They also had a K-9 or two attend the event, including K-9 Dusty with his handler Officer Russ Moring.
The S.W.A.T. booth was giving out free bracelets handmade by the daughter of Corporal Jesus Santillan.
This event allows the community to see their law enforcement in a different light, rather than the weekly jobs they have like giving out tickets or chasing criminals to protect the city.
The Clovis Police Department is looking forward to next year’s Night Out.