National Night Out introduces police volunteers to the community

On August 7, the Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with National Night Out, sponsored an event at Johnson Park.

National Night Out is designed to engage neighbors in local crime and drug abuse prevention activities. The event was planned and presented my Volunteers In Police Services (VIPS). A variety of food was served while people were able to meet their neighbors, get resource information, and meet the men and women of our county emergency services. District 4 Fire, Search and Rescue, Grays River Fire/EMS, DEM, and the Wahkiakum County Sheriff’s Office personnel were all on hand. Lending to the success of the event was cowboy poet/musician Joel Fitts, a Grays River resident, and a 28 year veteran of Grays River Fire and EMS, who performed and had the audience laughing, and crying. Then Sam Renfro and his K-9 search dog Sarge of the Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit demonstrated a live search, simulating a lost person in the woods, in which Sarge found the person he was looking for. After that Deputy Gary Howell and his Narcotics K-9 partner Dakota demonstrated several vehicle searches, simulating finding narcotics in and out of a vehicle. Also folks were able to ride in the sheriff’s office/DEM Humvee, police cars and fire trucks around the property. All in all it was fun, and a well attended event. Thank you all who attended the event, and for all the folks that made the 2012 National Night out possible.