National Night Out is back in the city of Chicopee. The annual event is a way to build positive relationships between law enforcement and the city, which is something Mayor John Vieau says the city takes great pride in.

"We take it to the next level with the city of Chicopee, our police department and C3 Unit Community Policing are out there every day, mixing up with the public, getting involved with basketball games," said Vieau. "We encourage them to park and walk, those are some of the things we take pride in that in the city of Chicopee."

The free event even has kids involved.

"We are helping out the Chicopee Fire Department with this stuff," said Marcos Paquette.

Different groups from all over the community step up to make National Night Out possible.

"It’s like a group project. Everyone needs to do their part in helping it and it will create a better community for us," said Blaise Dusza.

Lt. Holly Cote has been involved with National Night Out in Chicopee for about 24 years. She said this is a great way to connect with the kids in the community in a positive way.

"This year, is a great year," Lt. Cote said. "Last year we weren’t able to do it because of COVID, so this year we really amped it up and got a lot of great things for the kids. They get to come and meet all the police officers and firefighters, not in an incident type of situation, but see them like real human beings and see the person behind the book cover."

"We have our firefighters here, elected officials here volunteering, making sure we build those positive relationships in the community because that is the basis for a good community," said Vieau.

The event also had free food, vaccinations and a bounce house for the kids.