1st Annual Meet and Eat With Police This Afternoon

Today's event will be much like the National Night Out held at the Chestnut Street Park each year.

The NAACP Pottstown Chapter, Pottstown Police Department and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office will host the first annual Picnic With Police today from 12 to 2 p.m.

The event will be held at the park at the intersection of Chestnut and Washington streets and will be similar to a National Night Out event.

There will be free grilled hot dogs, snacks and drinks, as well as games, music and giveaways.

The even seeks to bring police together with the communities they serve and will allow the community to meet their local beat officers, including several new officers who have recently joined the force.

"This is a family-oriented event to bring everyone together for casual conversations or to discuss community issues while having fun," Pottstown Police Chief F. Richard Drumheller said i0n a preprared release.

"We are blessed in Pottstown to have such strong and vibrant organizations and coming together to relate on an informal basis with our police officers is important on so many fronts," said Jonathan Corson, interim president of the Pottstown NAACP chapter. "It's always better to have strong lines of communication in place before there ever might be a problem to face together.

"Pottstown residents of all ages are encouraged to come out, enjoy some good food, spend time with their neighbors and meet the beat officers," said assistant district attorney Brianna Ringwood. "We're looking forward to seeing everyone."