By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The weather was a little cooler than last year for the second annual Community Night Out hosted by the Hays Police Department at the Hays Aquatic Park.
Chief Don Scheibler was worried when he woke up that morning. The overnight low had dipped into the upper 50s and the weather forecast called for an overcast sky.
“I called the swimming pool and they said they’d turn on the heaters in the water,” Scheibler said while watching residents enjoy the pool in what turned out to be an 80 degree day.
This year’s event was organized by HPD Sgt. Chris Hancock, who’s been on the force for eight years.
“Just a chance for us to serve some supper to the community and give them a free night of swimming,” Hancock said. “The Hays Recreation Commission was very gracious in offering up the pool for three hours and help us out in doing that.”
Hancock and about a dozen other police officers helped serve up free hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, cookies and drinks to the estimated 450 people who attended.
“It’s great,” Hancock said with a smile. “We get to talk to the folks when they come through the line. A lot of the people we know, a lot of people we don’t know.
“This way if we come to their community, whether it’s to help them or we’re just patrolling through, it gives them a face to say ‘Hi’ to. And they see us in some plain clothes, not a uniform.”
Those plain clothes worn by the officers included white T-shirts emblazoned with the HPD badge logo and a U.S. flag. The T-shirts, in adult and youth sizes, were also given away to participants.
Hancock said children are sometimes afraid of fully-uniformed police officers who may look intimidating and the Community Night Out can help kids overcome those fears.
“I think seeing us without our uniforms on helps out a lot with that,” he said. “It allows them to see we don’t always wear a badge and our tool belts and things like that. They get to see us for who we are without the uniform on. It’s a lot of help in our interactions, whether it be outside a baseball game or walking through their neighborhood.”
Manning the large portable grill in the parking lot were two retired officers, Lt. Ron Rounkles and Investigator Bill Lovewell. Rounkles had hot dog duty while Lovewell flipped the burgers.
“They’re donating their time helping us out here cooking. They helped us out last year and did a great job. They’re both self-proclaimed ‘renowned cookers’ according to their families, and themselves,” Hancock added with a laugh.
Sponsors for the Community Night Out were Fraternal Order of Police Hays Lodge 48, Pepsi, Phaze 2, Walmart, Nex-Tech and the Hays Recreation Commission.