Culver City Observer -

More than 1,000 Culver City residents and other Westsiders joined dozens of local police officers and firefighters this week to celebrate "National Night Out," the annual countrywide event that's geared toward making communities safer and strengthening the bond between the public and law-enforcement agencies.

Visitors at the free event at Veterans Memorial Park perused dozens of community booths, chatted with police officers and watched demonstrations that included an impressive showing of the Culver City Police Department's vaunted K-9 team.

They also munched on free sandwiches from Santa Maria Barbecue while a CCPD helicopter hovered overhead.

Ron Peterson

"This is my first time coming to this [event] but you can bet that I'll be back again next year," said Lucy Vargas, a Lindberg Park resident who came with her eight-year-old son, Thomas.

Young Thomas was so impressed, she added, that "now he's decided that he wants to be a cop or fireman.

"Plus, now he wants to turn our poodle into a K-9 dog."

The nationwide event has been held annually since 1984. It is organized by the National Association of Town Watch in the United States and Canada.

An estimated 40 million people in 20,000 communities across North America participated in this year's event, a spokesperson for the nonprofit organization said.

Culver City officially began celebrating National Night Out in 2016.