The City of Wichita and the Wichita Police Department have been ranked fifth in the country for their 2008 National Night Out program by the National Association of Town Watch, according to NATW officials. This ranking for cities of over 300,000 is the highest award received by the city and eclipses 2007’s tenth place ranking.

“The effort was led by the three officers in the WPD Community Affairs Section,” said Lt. Darras Delamaide, the commander of the section. “In addition to their other duties, Officers, Michelle Tennyson, Joe Seitz, and Jason Dautrich, took on and completed a truly monumental task for National Night Out 2008.”

Challenged by Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams to push Wichita's national ranking by the NATW into the top five, the three officers spent 8 months formulating, planning, organizing and implementing nearly a dozen major events. Those events were carried out over several months and culminated in a week-long celebration in the first week of August.

“In the process of handling their assignment,” said Delamaide, “they formed countless major partnerships with business and civic leaders throughout the city and county. It would be hard to overstate the accomplishments of these three officers or the commitment of our community partners. As a result of the efforts of all involved, more than 25,000 Wichitans celebrated National Night Out 2008 along with their elected officials and other public servants and emergency responders.”

Some of the major partners in the 2008 National Night Out included Target Stores, Westar Energy, Journal Broadcast Group, Entercom Radio, Connoisseur Media, All-Star Adventures, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Old Town Farm and Art Market, Sedgwick County Zoo, City of Wichita, National Baseball Congress, Amateur Poker League of Wichita, Boys and Girls Club of South Central Kansas, Fraternal Order of Police, Boeing Wichita Credit Union, Wichita Federal Credit Union, Old Chicago, A-List Limousine, Alta Mere Window Tinting, R.E. Black Building Management, Carter Waters, EGraf-X, Lies Ready-Mix, Pixius Communications, Telcom Marketing and the Coleman Company.

Delamaide said due to the expanded NNO schedule and increase in the number of block parties, citizen participation in 2008 increased by 150 percent. “National Night Out 2008 was a resounding success because of the efforts of many. That success was validated by NATW’s raking Wichita’s event as fifth in the country for cities with populations over 300,000. The community should be justifiably proud of its commitment to take back the night from criminals,” said Delamaide.

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