An opportunity to build bonds between law enforcement and the community will take place Tuesday at Patriots Park.
The annual National Night Out is an annual event and part of “a national-level community building campaign to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” said John Hughes, director of Fort Jackson’s Directorate of Emergency Services.
National Night Out is celebrated the first Tuesday in August and is free for the Fort Jackson community.
The event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with an emergency vehicle parade through on-post housing. The main event will launch when the parade reaches Patriots Park around 6 p.m. The event is scheduled to end at 8 p.m.
There will be bounce houses, dunk tank, a K-9 demonstration and a “Race a Cop” activity. Local and regional law enforcement groups including military police, Criminal Investigation Division, South Carolina Highway Patrol and Richland Country Sheriff’s Department will attend.
This year the event will be joined by Defending Wellness as part of National Wellness Month.
The wellness month is an opportunity to showcase and highlight the importance of good health and prevention of harmful behaviors and habits that threaten the wellness of service members, their families, Department of the Army Civilians, veterans and retirees in the greater Columbia community.
“This presented a very unique opportunity to merge our holistic wellness focus with the social focus of National Night Out,” said Aljournal Franklin, director of Fort Jackson’s Integrated – Prevention Advisory Group, or I-PAG.
According to Franklin, 20 prevention-based community partners and programs will be at the event utilizing interactive and static displays to draw attention to wellness issues and programs that may not otherwise be publicized.
(Editor’s note: There will be a virtual symposium as part of National Wellness Month from 9-11 a.m. at the 1917 Club and streamed on Fort Jackson social media sites.)
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