Central Minnesota Celebrates National Night Out with Block Parties, Community Events, and Public Safety Engagement

(KNSI) – Neighborhoods across central Minnesota will hold block parties on Tuesday for the 40th annual National Night Out.

St. Cloud Police Chief Jeff Oxton told KNSI News the city has been participating in the evening for nearly 30 years and explained what the night hopes to accomplish. “The national theme for this is bringing public safety and community together to celebrate the partnerships and what we can do when we work together to make our cities, our communities, and our neighborhoods safer.”

One of those private-public partnerships was the creation of Minnesota’s first Community Outpost or COP House in 2017. It’s located at 600 13th Street South. KNSI News will join the Greater St. Cloud Public Safety Foundation at the COP House from 5:00 to 7:00. The fun includes basketball games, yard games, giveaways, music, grilled hotdogs, chips and root beer floats. It’s one of 50 events in St. Cloud on Tuesday evening. Police officers and firefighters will try to make their way to as many events as possible.

Oxton says the events give people a chance to get out of the house, talk with police, and get to know each other. ” You know, most of the conversations that occur at this are just that. They’re not necessarily about problems or issues. It’s just getting to know each other and getting to know about the things that we do to keep the community safe.”

The talks can help police learn what issues are important in an area and about potential problems.

The Sartell Police and Fire Departments will host an event at the community center, 850 19th Street South, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Officers will cook hotdogs and hand out chips and water while supplies last. Food trucks will also be selling lemonade and ice cream. The young ones can enjoy kid-friendly activities, and there will be a crash simulator so people can experience what it would be like to be in a rollover accident.

After the event wraps up, the departments will show a movie at Lake Francis Park, located next to the community center. Free popcorn will be handed out as families settle in to enjoy the Disney film Zootiopia. It’s one of more than a dozen events registered for the evening.

The Waite Park Police Department has nine block parties, and Sauk Rapids residents have registered eight neighborhood events between 5:00 and 9:00 on Tuesday night.

National Night Out has been celebrated in communities nationwide since 1984.

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