For decades, National Night Out has been a way to promote relationships between law enforcement and the community. Now, add COVID to the mix and you see the community taking on a different focus.
There was music, kid fun and food Tuesday for the first National Night Out in Richmond since the pandemic, something the police chief has been looking forward to.
“We lost an officer due to COVID, we’ve been extremely mindful,” said Chief Biza French.
Mindful that this pandemic is changing everything….Including policing. “We want to be in person again. We want to interact with our community but in order to do that we have to get vaccinated.”
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So county health officials took COVID-19 shots to the community.A number of people rolled up their sleeves.
Jessica Fountaine, who admits being hesitant at first, says she chose this event to get vaccinated for her mom.
“I was skeptical for a very long time. She's vaccinated and I just miss my mom and I can’t see her till I get the vaccine,” the Richmond resident said.
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That’s the message Pastor Dana Keith Mitchell hopes the community will get during this National Night Out as we navigate through this pandemic.
“We are hoping that with further education and once people become vaccinated that feeling of being frightened will be dismissed,” he said.
