In Frederick County, a Night Out to build rapport, check out the trucks

Aug. 1—Every Tuesday morning, Nathaniel Ngugi, 3, wakes up around 6 a.m. when he hears the garbage truck.

"He'll scream, and wants the door to be open," Nathaniel's father, Nicholas Ngugi, 44, said Tuesday evening in Carrollton Park, at one of the three National Night Out celebrations hosted by the Frederick Police Department.

His two sons love trucks of all kinds, including police cars and firetrucks, Nicholas Ngugi said.

The Ngugi siblings were among a host of families enjoying "touch a truck"-type opportunities and other activities at National Night Out celebrations all over Frederick County, including Emmitsburg and Walkersville.

National Night Out is an organization with a well-known event by the same name held on the first Tuesday in August, designed to promote relationships with law enforcement.

"The whole goal is to have the community come out and get to know their neighbor," Samantha Long, a Frederick Police Department spokesperson, said in a phone interview.

"It's a great way for the community to get comfortable with their local law enforcement," Long said.

The Frederick County Sheriff's Office also held a National Night Out celebration at Ballenger Creek Park.

There, two FSCO personnel, Tara Shriver and Ben Phelps, provided K-9 demonstrations, including one with K-9 Odin.

Phelps told a group of about 50 people that the K-9s are primarily used to find things.

Odin is trained to find narcotics or missing persons, Phelps said.

"It doesn't matter if it's pitch black, or raining, snowing, things like that," the dog is going to find a person much more quickly than a deputy could, Phelps said.

The Maryland Department of Transportation was also at Ballenger Creek Park with a rollover simulator, which shows the difference between a crash where a person has their seat belt on and off.

After several vehicle rotations, the decoy person without a seat belt flew out of the truck and landed on the ground.

Frederick County Parks and Recreation had a table at the Sheriff's Office event, and was a relative newcomer to it, according to Carl Lynch, a natural resource program manager.

Lynch helped preside over a table with real animal skins and plastic model skulls that kids could touch.

"You can't really go out and pet a raccoon in real life. It builds that bridge between them and the natural resources of the county," he said.

The kids can ask questions, like if a raccoon will take their trash, Lynch said. (They can, and do sometimes, he added.)

Emmitsburg held a National Night Out celebration at the E. Eugene Myers Community Park, according to Town Clerk Sabrina King.

This year, instead of only giving out toys for the kids as per usual, the town decided to give out school supplies, King said.

"We [were] brainstorming ideas. ... What was it we could do to benefit for the kids in the town?" she said.

In total, they gave out 50 backpacks filled with scissors, glue, composition books, and folders, King said.

Community organizations were also at National Night Out events.

At Carrollton Park, South End Baptist Church had 500 free hot dogs to hand out, Karen Wilcom, at the church's table, said.

"I love it," she said, referring to the event. "I was raised in this community. ... It brings the community together."

Texas Roadhouse also had a table at the Carrollton event, with a person dressed up as the Andy Armadillo mascot, who posed for pictures with people.

"People may not be familiar with different opportunities that are available to them, or even something as simple as what restaurants are nearby," said Ryan Stotler, a detective at the Frederick Police Department.

"I think it's good for people to interact with the police and see that we're just normal people just like them, doing a job," Stotler added.

Stotler was presiding as kids got in and out of a Frederick Police Department armored truck.

Nearby, Jeremy Ngugi, 5, posed for a photo with an FPD shield almost as tall as he is.

"I want to be a police officer when I grow up," Jeremy said.

It's also why he likes seeing the police trucks, he said.

What does he like about the equipment? "You save people," Jeremy said.