Windham’s National Night Out evidence of positive connections between police and residents

By Matt Pascarella

Since it began in 1984, National Night Out has been an excellent way for the community to establish relationships with police departments. This year marked the 40th anniversary of the event nationwide and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department and Windham Police Department were among the cities in the nation participating on Tuesday, Aug. 1 at Windham High School. There was free food, fire trucks, a dive boat, police cars and motorcycles, a K-9 demonstration, a mobile command center and drone demonstration along with the opportunity for the town to speak with law enforcement in a casual setting while also connecting with other Windham residents.

Windham first grader Harrison Villacci, left, gets help zipping 
up his life jacket from Maine Game Warden Peter Herring at
the National Night Out at Windham High School on
Tuesday, Aug. 1. The event was hosted by the Windham
Police Department and Cumberland County Sheriff's
Office. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“It’s a great time to talk to people and ask questions,” said Windham Chief of Police Kevin Schofield. “We bring in some of our equipment; I hear about kids who want to sit in a fire truck, well this is a great time to do that or sit in a cruiser, sit on a motorcycle – it’s very laidback and it allows us to interact with people in a non-confrontational manner.”

First introduced in August 1984 and always held on the first Tuesday in August, National Night Out promotes police-community partnerships and comradery to make neighborhoods around the country safer, and more compassionate places to live. Apart from Windham, 20 other cities across the state participated in the event.

Each year since the Town of Windham, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the Windham Police Department began hosting National Night Out events several years ago, it’s gotten bigger and bigger and Chief Schofield hopes to have it get even larger in the future.

All the equipment and technology they had with them was purchased by the citizens of Cumberland County and Windham. Law enforcement doesn’t exist without the citizens and the public can’t exist without law enforcement, Schofield said.

“Sometimes, just in normal conversation you’ll find out something you didn’t know about crime occurring in someone’s neighborhood,” said Chief Schofield. “Often times, some of these folks would never call us because they don’t want to bother us; I tell people – our job is to be bothered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This a great opportunity to bridge that gap. It's a great time to kneel down, and talk to a kid face-to-face as opposed to towering over them and acting like this authoritative person, often times, we look it, but we’re people too.”

Windham resident Abby Jacobs said her son Corbin loves anything to do with police or fire vehicles. They attended last year’s National Night Out, and their son enjoyed it so much, they decided to come back this year.

“It’s a wonderful experience for them to see the officers and not be afraid,” said Jacobs. “Everyone has been so lovely to them; it’s been an experience he’ll remember for a while.”

Windham residents Jaime Irwin and Rusty Davis also brought their kids last year and returned again this year. Davis said National Night Out is nice because you get to see all the officers and their families and experience the opportunity to interact with them in a nice way.

Richey Vickers, the Instructional Technology Leader for Windham Middle School, said he loves technology and was impressed by the drone demonstrations as well as the mobile command center that could run the entire Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office from anywhere in the state. He thought it was helpful to have so many people in uniform interacting with kids and adults.

Sergeant Kyle Hladik with the Maine Warden Service said that National Night Out is a great opportunity to interact with people from the community, especially kids and learn what we do and have a good time. It’s all about being part of the community and getting to reach out in a positive, fun environment.

“The National Night Out is a very good way of demonstrating some of the things, the expertise that we have, letting people that allowed us to purchase the equipment we have, see it, touch it, and in some cases experience it,” said Chief Schofield. “This is one of our favorite events of the year. It’s a good event for us and we really enjoy interacting with the public.” <