Out-of-uniform police officers will join prosecuting attorneys in bringing their families out Saturday evening to mingle with west-side neighborhood kids, parents and other residents. On the agenda? Nothing more than having Halloween fun and getting to know each other.
There will be aΒ costume contest, food trucks, music, games and an outdoor screening of Disney and Pixar's DΓa de los Muertos-themed movie, "Coco."
The event at a Boys & Girls Club will be the latest in a series of outreach efforts by Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, who was elected in November as the first new top prosecutor here in more than two decades.
"The idea was that Saturdays would be about reaching neighborhoods that had not traditionally had access to this office," Conover said.Β
"We realized there was a real opportunity to have neighbors checking on neighbors and the opportunity to have law enforcement start joining us, nonuniformed, so that people are meeting people under positive circumstances," she said. "Community-building circumstances instead of under tense, anxious, fear-driven circumstances."
Conover and her staff started in January with community cleanups in various neighborhoods to get to know the people and issues they care about. They've also done ride-alongs with officers.
Earlier this month, they gathered with residents of the Sugar Hill neighborhood for a block party at Mansfield Park that included food, music and opportunities to receive COVID-19 vaccines and legal help.
Nearly 40 residents of one of Tucson's historically Black neighborhoods were vaccinated, and dozens more received rental assistance or help with expungement applications for marijuana convictions.
Sugar Hill Coalition president Kevin Woodward said the event demonstrated the need for such services, but also showed attendees a good time, living up to the group's mission.
This Saturday's "Unity in the Community Halloween Festival and Movie Night" will kick off at 5 p.m. at the Steve Daru Boys & Girls Club at Murrieta Park, 1375 N. El Rio Drive.Β
The route for Tucson's annual All Souls Procession passes right by the clubhouse, so everyone in the area knows and can relate to the sentiments behind "Coco," said Anayeli Melkumyan, clubhouse director of the Steve Daru Boys & Girls Club for the past seven years.
Melkumyan is encouraging attendees to dress up in costumes and bring lawn chairs to enjoy the movie.
SheΒ called the festival the perfect opportunity for the community to "come out and vibe" with the cops that keep the neighborhood safe, adding that the neighborhood officers stay really involved with the clubhouse.
Sometimes they'll stop by if they see a kid playing outside. If that child has been taught to not engage, they'll just walk away, Melkumyan said, but the interactions can also play out another way.
"There's the kids who we know have a parent that is incarcerated, but they're intrigued. If the police officer is being nice to him and giving him stickers, that can change the way they see police officers," Melkumyan said. "Things like that make a difference. Events like this really do help."
The Halloween event will be the first in the County Attorney's Office's "Saturday Night Lights" series, said community outreach coordinator Patrick Robles.
"Bringing that humane perspective to law enforcement will result in true community change," Robles said. "It's really about building that community perspective when it comes to what to charge someone with if they've been charged with a crime. Or to understand 'what kind of background is this person who was convicted of a crime coming from.' "
The office has selected neighborhoodsΒ that haven't always had the best relationship with law enforcement or are at the forefront of important issues, Robles said.
Sugar Hill's Woodward said the events show the community that the County Attorney's Office is looking out for them, and not just to get them.
"A lot of people, the only time they see the county attorney is when they're going to trial. This is giving them the opportunity to meet them and letting them know that they offer other things than just putting you away for the rest of their lives," he said.
Aaron Philip Scott, a pastor and vice president of a local nonprofit that works to build relationships between community members and law enforcement, said he, too, is pleased with the connections being made through the events.Β
That nonprofit, Pillars and Bridges, is a co-sponsor of "Unity in the Community."
"We have to get everybody pulling on the same side of the rope so it's not just a tug-of-war going on against each other," Scott said. "That's difficult, of course. We're looking at the same problems but we see different causes, because they impact us in a different way. We come with different perspectives, hurts and frustrations. But we also come with different solutions."
Scott hopes to keep bringing new voices to the conversations, but said one thing standing in the way of widespread involvement is years of trauma and the past "rocky relationship" with law enforcement.
"It's hard to transform our thinking and approach this with an open mind and open arms and believe it's really going to change," Scott said. "But it's important we keep giving people this grace and space and dignity to go through the process of healing."
Said Conover, "We're hoping that β¦ by planting all these seeds, the community will grow healthier and safer. Certain marginalized neighborhoods will feel more comfortable with the law enforcement assigned to protect them, and vice versa. This, in fact, is public safety."
