The community was invited to attend and have some fun Tuesday at Double U Park, to celebrate Texas Night Out with the Blue and You 501c3 nonprofit.
Levelland Police Chief Albert Garcia felt that there was a great crowd for the event and saw many smiles on the kids that attended the event along with the public safety personnel talking to parents and adults.
The event started with food, music and fun activities spread across the park. There were “walkin’ tacos,” which were served by members of the Blue and You Board. The entrees featured a bag of chips, topped with taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese.
Members of the Levelland Police Department were on hand to offer information on community programs, including the bike registration program.
Kids were encouraged to bring their bicycles to the event and participated in the “slow bike race.” Additionally, kids participated in the bike registration program by receiving a special sticker for their bike, just in case it ever goes missing or is stolen.
Using the bike registration program, the police can identify bicycles based on the registration number. That way, if anyone ever reports a missing bicycle, they can utilize the program to identify the bike if one matching the description is found. Then, the bicycle can be returned to the proper owner.
Drawings for prizes were held throughout the night. Children received a ticket for a prize by introducing themselves to a police officer at the event. The officer gave the child a ticket, which would give them a chance to win something during the event. Drawings took place every 15 minutes until the end of the event.
Members of public safety agencies and law enforcement from throughout the community and county were in attendance, including Levelland Fire, Texas Game Wardens and the Hockley County Sheriff’s Department.
The Blue and You was established in 2020 to improve relationships between the community and the police department and provide a funding source to host community events like Texas Night Out and other programs like Blue Santa.
“With budget constraints, it was important for us to develop some type of funding source to help us promote these types of events,” Garcia said.
Research has shown the communities with better relationships between the community and the police department are typically safer places to live. Garcia, says this is a form of “proactive” policing versus “reactive” policing.
“It’s important for us to get out into our community and know they can trust us, and that we can have those positive relationships with those community members,” Garcia said. “When we establish those positive relationships, then the hope is that when they see crimes, they report crimes. When they see something suspicious, they report those suspicious activities so we can be more proactive in responding to certain situations before actual crimes occur.”
Better relationships between community members and the police department builds trust and opens the line of communication. Community members who take pride in where they live are more likely to report crimes and work with the police to help solve problems.
“When we can work together on a common problem, specifically crime, we can do better at solving those type of crimes when we’re all working on it,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the Blue and You hosts these types of events in local parks to give the surrounding neighborhoods a chance to participate in the events, and to come out and talk with public safety personnel about their thoughts or concerns.
“Every neighborhood needs to be afforded the opportunity to come out and have a good time and meet all the public safety personnel we have in Hockley County to establish those positive relationships,” Garcia said. “It’s also a good opportunity to visit with us and tell us about the overall condition of what is happening in their neighborhoods to give us some insight on the good and bad so we can focus more on things they’re concerned about. We can’t fix it if we don’t know about it.”
Additionally, Garcia said he hopes that once community members get a chance to talk with public safety personnel, they realize that police officers and others are also members of the community and have the same goals for Levelland—a safe place to live.
“We are community members just like them and this community is our community, and we want it to be a safe place to live not just for them but for us as well, and our kids and grandkids,” Garcia said. “If they get a chance to spend some time with us, they see we all want the same thing—a safe community across the board.”
The Blue and You has received support from many local businesses and organizations through monetary and other donations. For this event specifically, Rose Equipment and Butch’s Rathole donated bikes and scooters to give away as door prizes.
Other businesses have also shown support for the event with United Supermarket and Frito Lay donating the chips for the walking tacos, the Levelland Country Club volunteered to cook the food, Jeana’s Feedbag provided the monetary donation for the food, and Allsups donated hot sauce packets for the tacos. Many local businesses also donated items for door prizes at the event.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the businesses who support our Blue and You program and as well as the Levelland Police Department,” Garcia said. “We have so many great businesses in the Levelland that when they say they back the blue, it’s not just a statement for them. They really do support Levelland police and public safety in our community and Hockley County. They are true champions in my mind.”
Garcia said the Blue and You board is always seeking volunteers and if anyone is interested in participating, simply reach out to any of the board members who would be happy to get them more involved with the program.
“We are always looking for volunteers for any community sponsored events we have,” Garcia said.