The Mantua Township Police Department hosted the first Police in the Park event on Sept. 19 at Chestnut Branch Park.
The event drew hundreds of people, according to the township, and featured live K-9 demonstrations, a New Jersey state police mounted officer, a Jefferson Health helicopter landing and other emergency services. Police in the Park also included a smoke simulation trailer from the fire department and an EMS unit, as well as food trucks, kids’ activities and a live band.
Police in the Park is Mantua’s take on National Night Out, last held in the community in 2009, according to the township’s Facebook page. That national event is held in August and focuses on improving the relationship between the police and the community they serve.
“This is just an incredible event,” said Mayor Robert Zimmerman. “This is, more or less, a takeoff of National Night Out. It’s the same principal, since it allows our residents to interact with our officers, and see them in a different light as regular human beings outside of their uniform.”
“It’s a good turnout,” noted Deputy Mayor Pete Scirrotto. “It’s nice to see all of the people come out for the police outing.”
The Mantua event also spotlighted some of the newer officers in the township police department.
“We have a young department,” Zimmerman explained. “We’ve had a pretty big turnover, at least in the time I have been mayor, as a result of the attrition process. We have probably turned over close to a third of our department, so there’s a lot of young, new faces that people don’t know.
“This gives them an opportunity, meaning the residents, to come out and get to meet those officers in an environment like this,” the mayor added, “as opposed to a situation where they’re calling the police for assistance.
Other departments in Gloucester County were represented at Police in the Park, including the Deptford and Harrison Township police departments and law-enforcement agencies like the county prosecutor’s office and the FBI.
According to Zimmerman, Mantua police Capt. Bill Murphy helped to get other departments from 24 towns to the event. Tables with information and law-enforcement representatives were set up at the park’s basketball areas.
“It’s that camaraderie and it’s like a lot of professions,” Zimmerman noted. “The police community is a tight-knit community, and when they host these events, it’s fairly typical for them all – meaning the police agencies – to come together.”
Also on hand at the event were county commissioners Frank DiMarco, Matthew Weng and Jim Jefferson. The township hopes to host another Police in the Park event sometime in the future.
“We look forward to continuing this event each year,” Zimmerman said, “in hopes of strengthening neighborhood spirit and building on our already great police-community relationship.”
