POUGHKEEPSIE – The City of Poughkeepsie that is seeing a substantial increase in violent behavior came together for a few hours on Tuesday to celebrate National Night Out (NNO). Just an hour before the 5 p.m. start, police responded to the area of Bement and Lent Streets for several reports of gunfire.
NNO is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships as well as neighborhood camaraderie, held on the first Tuesday of August.
The Poughkeepsie event was organized by the city’s police department which brought in the Poughkeepsie Fire Department, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, a number of community and government agencies, along with neighboring police departments.
Police and fire vehicles were on display for children to explore and police K-9s were available to meet attendees. The last NNO took place in 2019 and featured the City of Poughkeepsie Police Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, known as the MRAP.
The line of children and adults seeking to explore the unique asset stretched halfway down the block, as people waited their turn to climb aboard. It was considered by many to be the most popular attraction. In December of 2020, the Democrats on the city council demanded that the MRAP not be used for events such as the holiday parade and NNO. On Tuesday, police were heard answering questions about the absence of the MRAP. The common response was “We brought different vehicles this year to change things up.”
City officials including Mayor Rob Rolison and Councilmembers Yvonne Flowers and Sakima Brown attended the festivities at city hall and interacted with the people that were drawn to the festival-like gathering.
“Our police department has been holding events to build positive community relations for years. They have gone a step further by organizing our National Night Out and I am very proud of their efforts,” said Rolison. “Our cops have tremendous public support and are very fortunate.”
Councilmember Flowers brought her grandchildren to NNO where they were treated to cotton candy, enjoyed background music donated by Ryan Michael, and were given a chance to play in the bounce house. “This is a positive event that brings the police and the community together and the city needs this,” she said.
Detective Karen Zirbel spearheaded the organizing of the local NNO. Zirbel also serves as the department’s School Resource Officer (SRO) and was pleased with the turnout. “Our department enjoys events like this and we have put together a great one this year,” she said. “My colleagues stepped up and our neighboring departments were a bonus.” In between being greeted by several Poughkeepsie School District students Zirbel also acknowledged the organizations that assisted. “I asked a few groups to help out and the word spread. We have over 60 agencies and groups that are here to help us and the city. It’s gratifying.”
