News

Kearney Police Crack Down for Cruise Nite

Posted: 4:09 PM Jul 18, 2012
Reporter: Morgan Demmel

Kearney Police Crack Down for Cruise Nite; Morgan Demmel Reports

More than 500 classic and collectible cars will be cruising into Kearney this weekend for the 25th annual Cruise Nite.

Organizers say it's an event that draws big crowds year after year.

"It will bring several thousand people into the community," Kearney Police Chief Dan Lynch says.

Organizers say that includes car enthusiasts from across the state and even surrounding states.

"It's a big enough event that we draw from Kansas, South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa," Cruise Nite Chair Brad Kernick says. "We'll have cars from a long ways coming for this."

But Kernick says even more people come to the community just looking for a fun event.

"A lot of people that aren't even really car enthusiasts look forward to cruise nite," Kernick says. "People in the summer, especially, are looking for something fun to do and this is kind of a focal point in the summer here."

He says all those visitors mean a big boost for the city's economy.

"This impacts the economy north of $3 million," Kernick says.

This year's event spans over five days, with events kicking off tonight, but the extra events and visitors in the city also bring concerns for the Kearney Police Department.

"We try and put all of our staff on the event," Lynch says.

Lynch says their biggest concern is crowd management.

"Quite frankly, there's a lot of consumption of alcohol. Those people who become inebriated or just simply overindulge, in combination with the heat and everything else, wander out into the roadway and we don't want anybody harmed," Lynch says.

He says the department will receive help from surrounding agencies as well. That extra enforcement is made possible through a number of grants that will help defray the costs of those officers working overtime.