It's all a night of fun and games for Long Island, law enforcement

In a Port Washington park Tuesday night, a softball game will pit cops against firefighters. On Suffolk's East End, County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. will oversee his own share of softball games, not to mention a dunk tank, a DJ and other events popular enough to have attracted thousands in the past. 

The two events, and others planned for Tuesday evening across Long Island, are part of a decades-old effort to build trust between cops and the community by both sides letting down their guards. Last year, said Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, that included Hempstead police officers taking turns in a dunk tank.

Or, as Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison described the 39th annual National Night Out, a way to show off the "human side of law enforcement."

In Nassau County, police and members of the District Attorney’s Office will host events in Baldwin, Bethpage, Cedarhurst, Elmont, Freeport, Glen Cove, Hempstead, Manhasset, Plainview, Port Washington, Uniondale, Valley Stream, Westbury and Williston Park.

Events Islandwide will include food, entertainment, arts and crafts, giveaways, games and opportunities to explore first responder vehicles.

“It’s a chance to see police as people, and they’re not coming to any tragedy or problems," Donnelly said. "They’re just there talking to everyone and interacting with kids, showing them these are men and women who have a tough job to do with the best intentions for the community.” 

Port Washington’s event at Lions Field includes a softball game between the local police department and fire company held in honor of former Port Washington Police Officer Brandon Wilson, who died last year in a crash on the Northern State Parkway in Westbury.

Toulon will hold a Night Out event at Fireman’s Memorial Park in Ridge. The free event, which in the past has drawn more than 2,000 visitors, will include a DJ, a tug-o-war, face painting, a dunk tank, and softball games between county sheriff deputies, corrections employees and Town of Brookhaven workers.

National Night Out, which dates back to 1984 and typically is held the first Tuesday in August, got started with a U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance grant.

Anti-gun violence groups, including Moms Demand Action, will also be volunteering nationwide, hosting events on the importance of securely storing guns away from children. 

The BE SMART campaign, for Everytown for Gun Safety, is also partnering with the National Organization for Black Law Enforcement Executives to provide gun locks at events in 19 cities around the country. 

Meanwhile, the Suffolk County Police Department's seven precincts will host Night Out events in Brentwood, Centereach, Huntington Station, Lake Grove, Mastic Beach, Patchogue and Wyandanch.

Night Out can help steer youth away from trouble and "in a positive direction,” Harrison said, and cement trust with law enforcement, often on streets and in neighborhoods where cooperating with police can be dangerous. 

“It’s getting people to feel comfortable and share things with law enforcement that they may not want to for concerns and potential retaliation," the police commissioner said. 

Night Out, he said, also is a reminder to residents that law enforcement is not a homogenous group. The cops they see on a regular basis in their Suffolk communities, Harrison said, are not to blame for misconduct elsewhere.

“It shows they should not paint law enforcement with a broad brush,” Harrison said. “If there’s a negative incident and they’re intimately aware of the organization, people won’t couple us within a few bad apples in another department.”