Volunteers at the Sedona Police Department are busily preparing to host the annual National Night Out at Sedona City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
According to SPD Sgt. Kevin Ahern, National Night Out is an event where police departments nationwide open their doors to their communities to show them what they do.
“It takes a lot of time and expense to organize that,” Ahern said. That’s why he’s grateful that four years ago, SPD’s volunteers, the Community Police Alliance, took it over.
Every year, to prepare for the first Tuesday in August, the 30 volunteers go to local businesses seeking donations and to public service agencies to host tables full of information at the event.
Thanks to Sedona Rentals, Bashas’, Circle K, Giant, Burger King, KFC, Picazzo’s Pizza, Red Rock BBQ, Dahl & DiLuca, L’Auberge de Sedona, Red Rock Cafe and Blue Moon Cafe, SPD is able to put on a $12,000 event, despite its $1,200 budget.
According to volunteer Dave Gorman, roughly 20 agencies will participate at this year’s event, including the Verde Valley Guidance Clinic, Verde Valley Sanctuary, Humane Society of Sedona, Sedona Oak Creek Chamber of Commerce, MATForce, Department of Public Safety, Friends of the Forest, Volunteer Park Rangers, Arizona Game and Fish and Sedona Fire District.
This year the fire district will have an engine or ladder truck for demonstration and has scheduled to have Guardian’s Angel helicopter, fire inspector Craig Hassebrock said, which will be on display on Cardinal Road.
Also, the entire crew of firefighters and paramedics from SFD Station No. 4 will be there, pending calls.
“We do this because it’s a good opportunity for us to meet and mingle with the public and for them to learn about our services,” Hassebrock said.
Police volunteers start planning the yearly event in June, volunteer and chair of National Night Out, Charlotte Gorman, said.
“The week before Aug. 4 we make a dash pulling in all the strings,” she said. When the day arrives, volunteers fill the police department starting at noon.
“The officers are kind enough to stay out of our way,” she joked. “We get a lot of help from the officers. If we need something, they’re good with helping us out with whatever we need.”
According to volunteer Ray Schwartz, SPD will have vehicles on display, VIN etching, child-seat safety inspections and the K-9 unit, Joker, will demonstrate his talents.
The success of Sedona’s National Night Out, which last year served over 300 hot dogs and 300 hamburgers, speaks volumes about SPD’s volunteers, Cmdr. Ron Wheeler said.
With over 4,000 hours of time served by volunteers last year, they not only save the department thousands of paid hours, but they also promote the police service, he said.
“They’re a good team member to help us reach our goal to a continued quality of life for our community,” Wheeler said.
Alison Ecklund can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 125, or e-mail
aecklund@larsonnewspapers.com
