For the past 22 years, the Dunkirk Police Department has been hosting National Night Out in the city with success.

National Night Out is a nationwide event, where police and community members get together for fun and games. Usually the event involves giving away toys to children, playing games, seeing movies and the like. One of its purposes is for children to see police as an authority that can be trusted.

Fredonia, meanwhile, ended its National Night Out a few years ago. The police chief blamed it on budget cuts. The village board also recently ended its School Resource Officer program when elected officials defunded putting an officer in the school. School officials want to see it come back and are considering asking the village board after the next election cycle.

The DARE program was another program that Fredonia ended that built relations with students and police.

There just simply isn’t enough events in Fredonia where children and police interact. Fredonia village and police officials need to make this happen. Better relations between police and citizens create a better community. Isn’t that what we want?