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Fighting Crime as a Community

Sep 09, 2015 01:00PM ● By Bryan Scott

K9 Unit

By Briana Kelley

South Valley - Hundreds of Riverton residents attended Riverton’s Night Out Against Crime on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Riverton City Park. Unified Police Department (UPD) and Riverton City hosted this free event to educate residents on crime prevention and services.

“This tradition is a great opportunity for UPD, UFA and city officials to really bond with the community and to get to know one another. Citizens can also understand what happens and the services that take place in the city; how we best work together and get to know the people we rely on even more,” Angela Trammell, Riverton City’s public information officer, said.

The night began at 6 p.m. with a helicopter landing. Community and business representatives had informational booths on immunizations, health care and safety. UPD had various booths geared toward community awareness and education. The K-9 unit held a demonstration; UPD’s S.W.A.T. and mounted posse and mobile forensic units were there. Officers also did fingerprinting, microscope identification and crime awareness.

Unified Fire Authority (UFA) was also present and had fire safety tips in their firehouse. All booths and activities were focused on public awareness and helping citizens get familiar with law enforcement and their role.

“For Night Out Against Crime, what we want to accomplish is to try and show everybody prevention and to learn how to prevent crime,” Chief of Police Rosa Rivera said. “The main goal is to bring the community together and talk about preventing crime, educating them on the resources that are out there for them.”

Despite the high winds and inclement weather, many residents and city officials came and enjoyed the event. “This is a good event for my kids to learn how to be safe,” Riverton resident Bart Williams said. 

“We got our fingerprints done so we can track our kids. We gave our cell phone numbers to the police department, so that if we call 911 they know it’s us that is calling them. These activities make this more of a local event. It also keeps my kids interacting with the police department so that they’re not scared of the police. They’re not scared of the people that are going to come help them,” Williams said.