National Night Out Returns To Fredericksburg In 2021

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — National Night Out 2021 events in Fredericksburg on Tuesday, Aug. 3 are part of a nationwide push to strengthen police and community relations. In 2020, relationships with law enforcement were strained as community members took part in nationwide protests after the murder of George Floyd.

The nationwide event "promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer," according to the National Association of Town Watch, the organization that founded the annual early August event in 1984.

An event hosted by the Fredericksburg Police Department will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday Aug. 3. The event will be held at Hurkamp Park on Prince Edward Street in Fredericksburg. The police department said there will be giveaways and other offerings.

Since 1984, communities across the country have held National Night Out events on the first Tuesday of August. Block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other community events have been popular ways to celebrate the outreach-focused event.

More than 2 million Americans took part in the first National Night Out. Now, the event is celebrated in more than 16,000 communities across all 50 states, according to the National Association of Town Watch. Many National Night Out events are back in 2021 after widespread cancellations last summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, businesses in Marple Township, Pennsylvania, are donating goods to be used during a night of music, games and demonstrations. In Palos Hills, Illinois, kids can play in large inflatable toys, and a face-painter will be on hand at a local park.

Tim McCarthy, a retired Orland Park, Illinois, police chief, has called National Night Out "a great way for kids to meet their local police officers in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere unlike an emergency setting."

In Fredericksburg, 2020 was a tense time for relationships between community members and law enforcement. Earlier this year, several protestors filed a lawsuit against law enforcement in Fredericksburg and Stafford County, alleging that officers used excessive force to break up demonstrations on May 31 and June 1, 2020.

Read more: Excessive Force Used Against BLM in Fredericksburg: Lawsuit Says