East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert stationed in a dunk tank will be one of many activities and events at the 26th annual National Night Out, a safety carnival that will occur Tuesday from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Patriarche Park, 1100 Alton Road.

“It’s basically a crime- and drug-prevention event,” Nowak said. “We hopefully strengthen the neighborhood spirit and our own relationships with the community.”

The free event will allow citizens to see things such as SWAT vehicles and Sparrow Hospital’s LifeNet helicopter as well as to partake in activities such as a moonwalk.
Nowak said the event not only helps educate the community about safety, but also gives participants a chance to get to know members of the police force.

“Unfortunately, many people have one contact with police officers and primarily that’s just a traffic stop and they may be getting a ticket. So its’s not usually a very positive situation,” Nowak said. “We want to put the community and ourselves in a more positive situation so they can see the human side of us as well as show them what we’re all about.”

East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said the event helps promote safety by showing citizens what they can do to make a safe community and help the police.

“It’s long been known that citizens can do a lot on their own to help control the crime rate in the community,” Staton said. “Just being aware of simple things and sometimes it’s just as simple as keeping a porch light on.”

Nowak said there would be activities to help entertain and educate children, including McGruff the crime dog.

“McGruff always has a few lessons for the kids,” she said.

Staton said the event was popular during previous years.

“They’ve been remarkably well-attended,” Staton said. “We get … hundreds of people from the community that come to the event.”

Although 2009 MSU graduate Kevin Pritchard said he always has had good experiences with the ELPD, he said the safety carnival might not be effective in the student community because many of them are not in town during the summer.

“I think it’s a good idea, but I don’t know if a carnival is going to get the job done,” he said. “But better relations with police is always a good thing.”