By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Hundreds of Val Verde County residents participated in the annual National Night Out on the grounds of the county fairgrounds on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
The event included city, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies, area fire departments and first responders who exhibited vehicles and equipment and answered questions.
The event was held in conjunction with other National Nights Out in communities across the country.
Too often, the only contact between citizens and the first responders who protect and serve them comes during a crisis – a vehicle crash, a burglary, a fire or a medical emergency. National Night Out gives the public a chance to interact with police, firefighters and ambulance crews under much more relaxed circumstances.
That was one of the foundational ideas behind the development of community events that grew into National Night Out more than 40 years ago.
National Night Out is “an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships. . . that enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community,” according to the National Night Out website, www.natw.org
At the local event on Tuesday, attending agencies set up exhibits ranging from horses to a helicopter on the county fairgrounds parking lot. Each agency also had sworn personnel and other staff to answer questions and to demonstrate how some of the equipment displayed is used.
Parents brought their children to pet Shadow, one of the horses of the U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector Horse Patrol Unit/Northern Corridor. Parents were also invited to take photos of their youngsters perched on a saddle slung over a bale of hay.
Members of the horse patrol unit explained to visitors that horses are still the most effective means of transportation in the rugged, brushy areas of the sector, giving agents an elevated vantage point and allowing them to cover ground too rough for motorized vehicles.
Other Border Patrol agents exhibited one of the sector’s air boats and all-terrain vehicles and let parents take photos of their children
perched on both types of vehicles.
At other exhibits, youngsters could climb into the high cab of the Del Rio Fire Department’s Engine #7, peek inside the back of an ambulance brought by the emergency medical service team at Val Verde Regional Medical Center or look into a Bell 407 helicopter from AirEvac Life Team.
Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office personnel explained the many functions and capabilities of the VVSO’s mobile command unit, and members of the Del Rio Police Department allowed visitors to check out one of the department’s newest vehicle additions, a Chevrolet Tahoe outfitted for patrol work.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and personnel were also on hand, as were staff from The Geo Group and a team from the 47th Security Forces Squadron at Laughlin Air Force Base.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
center, poses with members of his department at their display tent at the National Night Out Tuesday, Oct. 6. Faz said his department is now comprised of more than 35 officers, all of them licensed Texas peace officers. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
