The City of Oakdale was ranked second for California and 19th in the United States for this past summer’s National Night Out event.

The Oakdale Police Department is proud to announce the community ranked as the number two event in California for its festivities from National Night Out and made it into the top 20 cities in the nation, ranking number 19 nationally (city population between 15,000 and 50,000). This is based on the block party events from Aug. 7, 2018, where the City of Oakdale hosted seven citywide parties with approximately 5000 people in attendance.

In September, a scrapbook of the event was submitted to the National Association of Town Watch (NATW). The scrapbook included a video and pictures of all the parties from the night including a kickoff event at Burchell Park and the Classic Car Show. The NATW ranks the cities based on several criteria including the scrapbook, neighborhood participation, law enforcement participation and the overall campaign.

The Oakdale Police Department thanked all those who volunteered and attended the event, along with sponsors including Martin-Brower, A.L. Gilbert, ADT, Oak Valley Community Bank, Firenze’s, SaveMart, Mike and Melissa Tozzi, Oakdale Feed and Seed, and PepsiCo, to name a few, along with the many others that made this a significant event. Oakdale Police Public Information Officer Janeen Yates coordinated the event with a team of volunteers, sponsors and Neighborhood Watch Captains and ensured its success.

“National Night Out provides us the opportunity to put all the best of Oakdale on display,” said Police Chief Scott Heller after hearing of the ranking, “We are very fortunate to live in a community that shares a strong partnership between citizens and first responders and to be recognized together on a large stage like NNO.”

National Night Out is an opportunity for communities nationwide to heighten crime and drug awareness, promote police and community partnerships and develop neighborhood camaraderie. National Night Out now involves over 38 million people and more than 16,000 communities from all 50 states. Oakdale Police encourage everyone to take an active role in their existing Neighborhood Watch Group or contact Yates at (209) 847-2231 to inquire as to starting up a new Neighborhood Watch Group.