South Pasadena police and firefighters will be out en masse on Tuesday night, Aug. 6 — but don’t be alarmed, nothing bad is expected. Quite the opposite.
It’s National Night Out, held annually on the second Tuesday in August throughout most of the country.
South Pasadena’s event will take place in Orange Grove Park from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with local first responders meeting with residents to chat, offer demonstrations and information and generally — in the words of So Pas Police Chief Joe Ortiz — “put a face and a personality on the uniform.’’
“It’s another opportunity for the Police Department to build and promote community partnership and neighborhood camaraderie,’’ said Ortiz, who’s been chief in South Pasadena for just over four months, and who will be taking part in his first Night Out here.
Ortiz previously was chief in Sierra Madre.
Representatives from other city agencies — including public works, parks and recreation, community services, the library and the city’s manager’s office — also will have booths set up to meet with residents.
Nationally, Night Out began as a bonding between citizens and police, primarily. But South Pasadena takes it a few steps farther — basically, one-stop shopping for all your municipal-services questions.
“For us, it’s a joint, all-city thing,” said Det. Richard Lee, the police department’s point man for this year’s So Pas event. “If a resident wants to come by, he can learn about all the city’s services.’’
Last year, South Pasadena’s Night Out event drew between 300 and 500 people, said Anthony Kim, the city’s Community Services Coordinator.
“It’s a chance for people to meet their city services,” said Kim — who added there will also be kid-friendly activities such as inflatables to bounce around on, a rock wall, carnival games with prizes and food trucks.
“It’s a way for the community to come out and get to know their first responders,” Kim added. “We actually turn it into a little civic expo.’’
It’s all free, except for the food, he said.
Among the activities on the agenda:
The Fire Department will set up a “CERT” tent — CERT standing for Community Emergency Response Team — to demonstrate the various tools and techniques at its disposal in the event of an emergency.
Firefighters will also offer residents instruction in “hands-only’’ CPR, a non-mouth-to-mouth life-saving skill that’s been proven to be very effective, said Fire Capt. Daniel Dunn.
“You can learn CPR in a couple of minutes,’’ Dunn said. “The more people that know CPR, the more people there are to help out people who go down.”
Dunn said firefighters will also be educating residents about an app called PulsePoint, which alerts users to nearby emergencies, allowing them to provide help if they’re close enough to come to someone’s aid.
According to National Night Out’s web site, natw.org, the annual event “provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.’’
“Millions of neighbors take part in National Night Out across thousands of communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide on the first Tuesday in August (Texas and select areas celebrate on the first Tuesday in October),’’ the national organization said.
“Neighborhoods host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and various other community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel, exhibits and much, much more.’
