‘Community is the biggest part of what we do’

Hopewell Valley had the chance to dunk an officer, ride in a fire engine ladder bucket, and watch K-9 demonstrations up close when National Hight Out returned to Stony Brook Elementary School.

The free community event on Aug. 4 organized by the Hopewell Township Police Department and Hopewell Township Policemen Benevolent Association (PBA) Local 342 gathered the valley community together to not only celebrate community but build a stronger relationship between officers and residents.

“This is the biggest event we do for the year. It is an event to get the community together. This event has grown through the years,” said Det. Steven Ciosek, who led the organizing efforts for the township’s National Night Out.

“It is great that the community can see us officers not in uniform. You can dunk them in the dunk tank, watch them doing demonstrations, and handing food out seeing us in a different realm than what the community might see us in the day-to-day.”

Between 400 to 500 people attended the two-hour event, according to Ciosek.

Valley adults and children have enjoyed new additions to the annual event such as a gaming lounge trailer created by Officer James Klesney and K-9 demonstrations.

“This gaming trailer is huge. We take it to all the schools towards the end of the school year the kids love it,” Ciosek shared. “This is the first time we are having it here for National Night Out as you can see all of the kids are there. The K-9 is great we have him do demonstrations throughout the year. Everybody loves it.”

Planning for the annual event on the first Tuesday in August begins in April for Hopewell Township police.

“We want to show that this is what we do in the community and we love to give back,” he noted.

Children lined up to get their faces painted, adults and families waited in long lines to get into the Pennington Volunteer Company Tower 51 ladder bucket for a ride, children rock climbed a large wall structure and lined up to dunk township officers fresh out the academy.

“Community is the biggest part of what we do. We stress that with all the guys and girls that work in the township,” Chief of Police James Rosso said. “We try to take the extra steps to engage with the community and meet them where they are at.”

They interact with a lot of the sports programs and are in the schools whether it for something such as chief of the day or eating pizza with the children in the schools.

Hopewell Township police officers who serve Hopewell Borough as well as the township to engage children and adults.

Rosso explained how building a connection with the community builds that layer of trust that any police department needs with the community they serve.

“When you establish that trust and rapport with the community, they are more freely giving us information or more receptive to offerings we give to them. We have that Blue Angel program for people who may be living by themselves and if they have a medical and need us to get there, we offer that service to go in their places without breaking the door down,” he added.

“We do some fraud prevention with some of the older population. It has paid off dividends because they feel free to contact us and give us information for things as simple as a speeding complaint in Brandon Farms. That rapport and trust help with our day-to-day operations.”

The department created a community partnership unit to specifically to go out into the community and address concerns and bring them back to the department and develop events and informational sessions to help those in the community.

“All of the officers have bought into that model of being that community policing department,” Rosso said. “That was one of the top priorities when I stepped in and I think we are doing a great job. Of course, we ca do things better and we will try to do better as things go on.”

The National Night Out Event at Stony Brook gave children and adults the chance to explore Hopewell Emergency vehicles, fire department fire trucks and equipment, township police cars, public works truck, and enjoy hot dogs and music.

“This is our community at its best and this is community policing at its best. Really being out there with the entire community. Bringing others into the fold,” Mayor David Chait said.

“Public Works out here with Touch-a-Truck, police out here with this incredible gaming trailer and more, bringing everyone together to celebrate summer and community. This is what it is all about.”

Township Committee member Courtney Peters-Manning said she is thrilled with where the department is now and how they are such an important part of our community.

“It has been an absolute goal and focus of [Chief Rosso] to increase community policing. We have a community policing unit now in the department – two dedicated officers who put their heart and soul into the community,” she added. “The gaming trailer, Officer Klesney did that all by himself. They just come up with stuff like that.”

Communities across the state and nationally who had cookouts, block parties, parades, fun, food, and games for the yearly event of National Night Out, which takes place in August.

National Night Out is an annual and national community building campaign that was created to make communities safer and build trust between individual communities and their police departments.

There are 17,000 other communities and their local law enforcement nationwide and in U.S. territories celebrating National Night Out each year in August.

The event, which just concluded its 43rd year, was introduced nationally in 1984 as an annual community building campaign created to make communities safer and build trust between communities and their police departments, according to the National Association of Town Watch, which sponsors the event.