Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - There is an apparent shift in Rochester’s annual National Night Out event. The city has seen participation numbers increase in recent years but that may change this year.

Rochester Police Dept. event coordinator Darrel Hildebrant says fewer large events such as those organized by churches and neighborhood associations have registered this year. But there has been a large increase in the number of overall events, going from 438 last year to 517 as of 8:00 AM Tuesday.

Hildebrant says most of the increase is due to a larger number of smaller events, such as neighborhood block parties.

He estimates the number of invitations this year will be around 80,000, down from 84,000 last year. Hildebrant also says there is a large increase in the number of requests for police officers to attend an event. There were 75 requests last year. As of Tuesday morning, he had received 145. He also says new police chief Jim Franklin has been invited to a large number of events.

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