Juneteenth Day is a huge celebration in the Black community every year. In coming out you might see friends and people that you have not seen in years. It is important to have a good but safe time at the event. Law enforcement personnel does numerous hours of planning for this event. My wife and I attended for the first time in numerous years. The event starts with a parade around 9am and goes until the early evening. I observed numerous officers throughout the crowd including MPD and Deputy Sheriffs. Law enforcement also had several booths along the route. The Sheriff Department is doing heavy recruiting for the jail plus deputy positions also. District five had a booth along with the Fire and Police Commission next to them. The League of Martin also had a booth and was selling food.
There were bicycle officers patrolling the outer areas of the festival to keep an eye on everything. Most people at the event are there for an enjoyable time, food, and fellowship. But you always must keep an eye out for troublemakers in the area. The Captain of District 5, along with her lieutenant and a few sergeants were in the crowd trying to monitor any unruly behavior. Estimates on the crowd was 40,000 so it was exceptionally large. It was a wonderful day out, so I think many people decided to attend and enjoy the atmosphere. The original locations were supposed to be from Center Street to Burleigh Street. But the north location went two blocks up further because of numerous extra booths they had. The crowd really enjoyed themselves with the fellowship and tasty food.
I also observed Chief of Police Norman, along with his Assistant Chief Johnson, in the crowd walking and talking with people. I would say the event was an overall success. There was a concert in Clinton Rose Park after the event was over which got a little out of hand. The concert was cut short, and everyone had to leave early. Juneteenth Day has a lot to be proud of and next year it should be even bigger and better.