DEARBORN — On August 1, the Dearborn Police Department partnered with Target to host a “National Night out on Crime” event, described as a neighborhood crime and drug prevention effort in a city newsletter.

Hundred attended the event, which utilized every inch of the police department’s east parking lot to show the community the department’s extensive resources.

Amid the free hot dogs and ice cream were Dearborn’s bomb squad, SWAT team, K9 unit, armored personnel carrier, and mobile command post.

The Michigan Department of Natural resources, the Detroit Special Response Team, Michigan State Police Motorcycles Units, Wayne County Downriver Dive Team, Beaumont Hospital Security Police and Medical Helicopter, Fairlane Town Center Security, University of Michigan Police and Huron Township Police’s Mounted Unit were also on hand.

Representatives of the various units and organizations demonstrated how their equipment works and explained their job duties.

The Beaumont Security Police and Medical
Helicopter had the most elaborate entrance when it landed in the parking lot at about 6:40 p.m., awing the entire crowd.

Shortly after the event began, at 5 p.m., the Dearborn Fire Department performed vehicle extraction demonstrations using the “jaws of life”, a tool used to free a person trapped in a vehicle after an accident. It can cut quickly cut through the car’s metal and remove whatever portion of the car is necessary to safely remove the person.

Both demonstrations involved removing the roofs of sedans.

The Bomb Squad tent had a robot on display along with a bomb containment chamber.

Intertwined between the tents were police cars and trucks, with children playing with the sirens. Children also played in a bounce house and on an inflatable obstacle course adjacent to the tents.

Toward the end of the evening, raffle winners received children’s bikes and backpacks filled with school supplies, which had been provided by Target.

The event also honored several individuals for their outstanding contributions to the community. Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Police Chief Ron Haddad, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) and State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) presented Certificate of Special Recognition awards to Mohammed Alshuweili, Amy Berro, Ali Beydoun, Dorothy Brill, Karen Drogowski, Lorien Geller, Tawana Joy Hart, Saied Jaffer, Andrea Mason-Bazzi, Hussein Mouraid, Rita Palmer, Donald Richard, Kassam Sharif, Christine Sickle, Chistopher Willier and Dante Winters for “their outstanding service to the community when they witnessed and contacted police or helped out officers in making arrests.”

A number of businesses were also recognized. Dr. Adnan Al-Dais, M.D., Lena Bazzi, Nada Ramadan and Zaina Aoun of Chase Pediatrics were honored “for their participation in the 2016 Holiday Charitable event.”

Ms. Zeinab Saad – Flower Boutique was recognized for donating flowers for the Holiday Charitable Event.

Ibrahim and Khalil Saad of Papaya Fruit Market and Isam Koussan and Rabih Naidi of Super Greenland Market were honored “for their donations to the Holiday Charitable event.”

Anthony Gonino of the Dearborn Walmart was recognized for “many contributions to our city and the Dearborn Police Department.”

Jack Zelazny was honored in “recognition for the work he did in designing and construction of the police lobby area” and Hameed Dakroub was honored in “recognition for his many accomplishments in the U.S. Taekwondo World Class National Championships.”

Dearborn’s community and police department were not alone in this event. Across the nation police and communities came together to “promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live,” according to the National Association of Town Watch’s website.

The website goes on to say that “millions of neighbors take part in National Night Out across thousands of communities from all 50 states on the first Tuesday in August,” (In Texas it is celebrated on October 1, due to the heat).

The National Association of Town Watch was founded by Matt Peskin in 1981 to combine the efforts of local community watch programs. Three years later, National Night Out debuted.

People would initially turn on their front porch lights for the night in an act of solidarity, but throughout the years the event has grown to a festival in many communities across the nation.