Police Department takes Havre on a National Night Out

Havre's Police Department will host National Night Out Tuesday, Aug. 7, on the lawn of Montana State University-Northern's Student Union Building.

Sgt. Ryan Pearson said the event will last from 6 to 8 p.m. and includes a free barbecue of pulled pork sandwiches, live music and face painting by the Havre High School cheerleaders; bike and gun raffles will be held at 7:30 p.m. Depending on the weather and mission-availability, he added, the event may also feature a dunking booth and a helicopter.

Pearson has organized the annual National Night Out since it began seven years ago in Havre. The event has been growing across the country for the past 35 years, the National Night Out website says.

The goal of the event, Pearson said, is improving crime and drug prevention and awareness; it's also about "bringing the community and law enforcement together."

Because the community has a chance to see the police as regular people in a relaxed setting, Pearson said, he believes the event has improved their relationship.

Pearson added that he would enjoy seeing more people out to the event.

"If they have questions about things in the community and what might be going on, they're always more than welcome to come up and talk to us while we're up there," he said.

Informing and improving relations

Events like National Night Out could help to ease the tensions between police and communities in the United States, Pearson added.

"I think it's unfortunate in some instances around the country, where police are getting put into kind of a negative light," Pearson said. "Cause there can be, you know, a few officers that can also make things very hard for people that are doing their job and a bunch of good officers."

He added, "It's nice to see that, you know, we don't have those types of issues currently ... here where the community in general supports law enforcement really well."

The Havre Lion's Club, for example, sponsors the barbecue.

"They have been fantastic," Pearson said.

Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods, Culligan, Havre Distributors and local classic rock band Blind Luck, he said, have also been supportive of National Night Out. Pearson added that Northern's Student Union Building staff and several local agencies help to serve the barbecue.

"It's nice to see that people want to help out with this," Pearson said. "It's a pretty cool deal."

New features this year

"We try to add something new every year or bring more organizations in," Pearson said.

Havre's District 4 Human Resources Development Council domestic violence program will set up a booth this year and, he added, the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation's police department and EMS may also attend.

He invited people to contact him about adding new organizations to Tuesday's event or with any thoughts.

"They can call the police department, leave a voicemail, or talk to me in person - whatever they need to do."

Pearson said more than 500 people came to Northern's campus last year. He said he hopes for more people this year and is looking forward to the families returning.

He said he most enjoys interacting with the kids, adding, "we've set up mock little crime scenes for 'em to go through and look at."

U.S. Border Patrol may bring up their A-Star helicopter, although he said it is mission-dependent.

"The helicopter's usually a huge hit for the kids," Pearson said.

"It seems the kids and some people have fun getting to dunk the police," Pearson added. "... We have a fun time doing it, since we usually have three or four people people that will volunteer to be in the dunking booth."

"Fortunately," he said, "it has not yet to be me - I've been working, usually."

For the adults

Ticket holders need not be present to win the bike and gun raffle drawings at 7:30 p.m., the event flyer says.

"We don't use any of this money for ourselves," Pearson said. "It gets donated out into the community as best we can."

Proceeds from the bike raffle will benefit Havre/Hill County Crime Stoppers; those from the gun raffle will go toward the Havre Police Protective Association, which donates to youth scholarships as well as programs like the Shop With A Cop program in December, Havre Youth Baseball, Hi-Line Youth Soccer and Northern Montana Care Center.

Pearson can be reached at the Havre Police Department for questions and comments at 265-4361.