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The Alabaster Police Department hosted its National Night Out on Tuesday, Oct. 4. (For the Reporter/Neal Wagner)

By EMILY REED | Special to the Reporter

ALABASTER – The Alabaster Police Department hosted its National Night Out on Tuesday, Oct. 4 in the Amstar Cinemas parking lot.

“I appreciated the great turnout and was excited to see everyone there,” said Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney. “The children and even the adults had a great time meeting our officers and other first responders present. I am thankful for all of the vendors for joining us and sharing their resources with our community.”

The purpose of the event is to allow residents the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of law enforcement and emergency personnel.

This was the eighth year for Alabaster to host the event, and the second year for the event to be held in the Buffalo Wild Wings and Amstar Cinemas shared parking lot, according to Alabaster Police Department Corporal John St. Pierre.

Alabaster Fire Department Chief Tim Love said participation from the community was great.

“I had the opportunity to attend and share with many of our partners, citizens and employees,” Love said. “Events of this nature are a great sharing environment and a great opportunity for citizens to learn about the various services in their city.”

Pierre said the department was encouraged by the large turnout.

“Having the community’s support means everything to us, and seeing the massive amount of people come out to enjoy a beautiful evening with us was great,” Pierre said. “National Night Out is our annual community-building campaign that promotes police and community partnerships to make our neighborhoods safer and Alabaster a more caring place to live.

“National Night Out enhances the relationship between our community and law enforcement while enjoying a fun evening under positive circumstances,” Pierre said. “Without our community, we could not do our job.”

An enjoyable portion of the evening was seeing the excitement on the children’s faces, Pierre said.

“They loved being able to turn on the police lights, go through the vehicles, try on our equipment and learned a lot about forensics,” Pierre said. “Sparky, the remote-controlled dog from the Alabaster Fire Department, was a hit with everyone, and we are thankful our firefighters could join us.

“The weather was perfect, and the atmosphere was full of laughter and fun,” Pierre said. “We are thankful to all of our vendors and guests. National Night Out is my favorite event and I can’t wait until next year.”

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