Law Enforcement Departments in New Mexico and across the country will be participating in the 39th National Night Out today.
It’s commemorated every year on the first Tuesday in August.
It’s an annual community-building campaign that promotes police and community partnerships to make neighborhoods safer.
Several events with police and lawmakers are being held in Albuquerque and in cities and towns across the state.
One of the largest Night Out events takes place in Santa Fe at Santa Fe Place Mall and next door Villa Linda Park.
Santa Fe City and County Police are joined by State Police, the Department of Public Safety and several other organizations.
State Police Captain Brian Waller says the event helps build positive relationships with the community.
“The big difference in this, is what makes this event special to us and the Department of Public Safety and State Police specifically is, we’re typically enforcing the law,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for us to take a step back from that and truly engage with our community members, to hear their concerns, be responsive to their concerns but most importantly to be respectful and take action on their concerns.”
Among the events taking place on National Night Out, a top priority for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety at the event is to expand awareness of missing persons and the resources available to assist their families. There will be services to register photos and fingerprints so if a child or other family member goes missing, police can quickly move into action to help find them.
The Santa Fe National Night Out runs from 4 to 8pm at Villa Linda Park.