How one Basalt police officer bridges the gap between law enforcement and the community

Basalt’s River Park was full of tents, the smell of burgers and the sound of live music for National Night Out on Tuesday afternoon.

National Night Out, an event meant to foster police and resident partnerships, as well as community relationships, happens the first Thursday every August in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Burgers and hotdogs were grilled by the Basalt Lions Club and Boy Scout Troop 242. Mini donuts were fried from Aspen Mini Donuts. The Highway 82 Band sang live music all night. And several booths were set up from the Basalt Police Department, Roaring Fork Fire and Rescue, the Pitkin and Eagle County Sheriff’s departments, Aspen Hope Center, Discovery Cafe, Pitkin County Regional Dispatch, and a bear awareness tent.

“We have a lot of mental health problems that we deal with these days. So, we have Discovery Cafe here with us, which is a recovery resource,” Basalt Police Department Sergeant Nino Santiago said. “A lot of people don’t know about them. So, hopefully we get a little word out there.”

There was something for everyone, though, including a bounce house and different police vehicles. Four-year-old Kai Whittier’s favorite part of the night was getting to go on the sheriff’s department’s boat. He even got to turn the lights on.

“I think it’s fun for them to meet everyone. They come to their schools and teach them how not to be afraid,” his mom Anya Whittier said. “Like, ‘If we come to your house, we’re here to help you, we’re your friend, we’re not going to hurt you.'”

This is the second year National Night Out has been held in the Basalt River Park, but Sergeant Santiago has helped out with the event for over a decade. As soon as he joined the force in Carbondale before transferring to Basalt, he was asking his chief to run it.

“This is my favorite time of the year,” he said. 

Sergeant Santiago even cut his paternity leave in half just to plan and attend the event. His wife was at the Basalt Police Department tent with their one month old baby and nieces. 

“This is the point where you see cops, deputies, first responders all smiling,” Sergeant Santiago said. “A lot of them are here with their families. And everybody gets to meet everybody. We’re all in this village together. And we’ll get through everything together. People want to know why we do what we do. This is the environment where we could articulate a lot of things that we traditionally can work in. So we would really like to see a bigger outpouring, not just our community, but people throughout the valley in the future. I’m hoping I can get more agencies to attend. We want to share with them how much we appreciate serving. We can’t traditionally do that, in the realm of what we do on the streets. We are craving that communication with them just as much as they are with us.”

Before National Night Out was held at Willits’ Triangle Park. The most memorable year at that park was right after the Lake Christine Fire. Several hundred people showed up.

“With the help of the chamber, I was able to coordinate inviting every agency that helped us, from Snowmass to Aspen, clear down to Glenwood Springs, Carbondale,” Sergeant Santiago said. “So many agencies participated that they came to the National Night Out. And that was a point where the community really wanted to show their gratitude for what we had just experienced. It was breathtaking, but it felt good to know and to feel that there was purpose and value behind it. It was such a traumatic event for so many families.”

“Midland Money” was also given out to event goers in an effort to generate business for those that own shops and restaurants on Midland Avenue in the wake of the construction.

The next community event the Basalt Police Department is planning on hosting is a Community Academy in September. Every week on Thursdays community members can sign up to learn about different topics.

Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.