National Night Out returns to Cranbury on Aug. 7 at Village Park, the fifth year in a row for a local happening that brings the police and the community together.
Food, music, bounce houses for children and a visit by a New Jersey State Police helicopter are on tap for an event due to run from 5-8 p.m.
“It’s just a great night for all the citizens to come out and meet the local police officers,” said Cranbury Police Officer Michael Cipriano, who organizes National Night Out.
Similar celebrations are held around county, seen as ways to build relationships between police departments and the communities they serve.
“In Cranbury, we’ve always had a very positive interaction with our community. It’s just amazing,” Cipriano said. “When we decided to get involved in National Night Out, just the overwhelming support we received from the community just by them showing up, it’s unbelievable.”
Cipriano is a patrolman in the police department and president of the police officers’ union. He described himself as a “completely community-oriented police officer.”
“When you’re out of the car and you get to know the people in your town, it just kind of makes your job as a police officer even easier,” he said. “You get to know the routines of the residents, their everyday actions, so that if something one day might be out of place, you would recognize it.”
National Night Out is co-sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 68, the police union, and the township. Each year, attendance at the event averages 350 to 450 people, Cipriano said.