BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Police Department held its annual night out event at LSU's Alex Box Stadium with the goal of bringing the community together.

L'Jean McKneely with BRPD said the event is a way for officers to build relationships with the community and to send a message that they are here to help. 

"It's an overall outreach event where we are putting our boot on the ground and sharing a common message we are here we care and we are going to make a difference," McKneely said. 

Friends, families, and local businesses all came together to have a good time. East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Jones says this event gives agencies a chance to show another side.

"Kind of get rid of that narrative [that] every time we show up, we arrest somebody. It just brings out the human side of us. We have food, fun," Jones said.

Nicollete Gordon from the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice says events like these give the community a chance to see who is serving them.

"You get a chance to see law enforcement in a different light a lot of times when law enforcement shows up they are responding to something bad well here we have kids out everybody out kids out everybody's playing nobody's being arrested," Gordon said. 

Baton Rouge police told WBRZ they plan to host another event next year.