Police Night Out set for Tuesday

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Squad cars, among other things, will be on display during the department's annual Night Out next Tuesday evening.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Squad cars, among other things, will be on display during the department's annual Night Out next Tuesday evening.

The Bella Vista Police Department's annual Night Out will be next Tuesday, Aug. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Riordan Hall.

Capt. Tim Cook said that this year will have a few new activities and displays, including a bike rodeo, pitching speed measurements and a new child fingerprinting computer. And with any luck, he said, it will have decent weather as well.

The computer uses a digital scanner, he said, and was a budgeted item for the department this year that allows the department to take fingerprints without using any ink and link them to photos of the children in question.

"We'll be able to do it right there with one of the digital scanners," he said.

Families will be able to look at seized items, get their pictures taken with and take a close look at patrol vehicles, attempt the drunk driving simulator, watch a K9 demonstration, have a meal, see the department's new tactical unit and, assuming the paint is finished, the department's new Humvee.

This is also a chance for the department to distribute information on some of its programs, like Operation Good Morning, he said.

But most importantly, he said, it's a good chance for residents to meet their police officers.

"A lot of this is for people to come out and meet people from the department," he said. "We're just like them. We shop at the same stores; we're your next-door neighbors."

General News on 08/01/2018