Public service organizations and their military counterparts joined Navy communities around Puget Sound to participate in the 26th annual National Night Out (NNO) Aug. 4.

NNO took place in more than 15,000 communities nationwide, involving more than 37 million people last year. NNO is designed to strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships along with heightening crime and drug prevention awareness.

“Once a year the local law enforcement and fire companies get together to meet the local community,” said Sgt. A.J. Miller, DoD Police Department, Bremerton Precinct event co-coordinator. “A lot of times when emergency services are required, it is a high-stress situation, and if the community sees a friendly face and knows who we are, it helps calm the situation.”

Three related events were held at Trident Park on Naval Base Kitsap Bangor, Mount Lake Terrace and Lake Stevens for Naval Station Everett and Windjammer Park in downtown Oak Harbor for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.

“This very popular event was created to strengthen neighborhood spirit, interaction with law enforcement and to build partnerships in solving crime,” said Jim Slowik, mayor of Oak Harbor. “We are fortunate to live in a city that doesn’t tolerate crime as a result of everyone working together. Oak Harbor is a great place to raise your children.”

Booths from local support groups and community programs also provided information on resources available to the community.

“The message sent by this National Night Out to me is clear and simple; good cops joining forces with good people will undoubtedly result in a good outcome,” said Mark Brown, Island County sherriff. “It has been - and is - my philosophy that all Island County law enforcement should work together as a team to strengthen our cause and, ultimately, our bond not only between our respective agencies but with our communities as well.”

Activities varied by location, but attendees were treated to an array of presentations, including military working dog demonstrations, a search and rescue demonstration, a driving under the influence car crash response and entertainment for the whole family such as a dunk tank, bounce house, balloon clowns and more. McGruff the Crime Dog and Sparky the Fire Dog also made appearances.

“The overall experience was very good, and it was nice to see the appreciation from the local community for our service to the country. Everyone that passed by our stand was thanking us for serving,” said Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Shawn Stewart, of Naval Station Everett security. “The K9 Unit Basco drew lots of attention; everyone was wanting to see the ‘police dog.’”

Although many of the entities involved work together through interagency cooperation efforts on a regular basis, the chance to establish new relations among less familiar services was welcomed by the agencies.

“This is a great event for us to work together with every law enforcement agency that works in this community. The more people we can work with and keep good communication with, the more productive we can be in the community,” said Lt. Brandon Sheets, of NAS Whidbey Island Search and Rescue. “That’s what I like most about National Night Out, we can all learn how to work together a little bit better and learn what resources are out there.”