Making Our Communities Safer

THE BENEFITS OF NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

By: Darrin S. Cassidy

Years ago…perhaps I should say decades…I recall playing outside until the streetlights illuminated. I would then head home and play flashlight tag with the other neighborhood kids while our parents gathered on the front lawn to socialize. Unfortunately, this type of behavior fell out of fashion somewhere between then and now. Blame it on whatever you will, but the best way to promote safe neighborhoods – the simple act of being neighborly – quietly faded away.

Today, people stay in their homes and rarely come out. It is astonishing how few people actually know their neighbors. Neighborhoods had to create programs soliciting volunteers just to walk the community. These programs came with signs warning visitors that people are watching. But are they, really? From my perspective, it seems as if those programs have faded away, much like the notion of neighbors congregating on the front lawn.

Replacing these programs, signs and friendly conversations with neighbors – while kids play in the yard – is social media and cameras. Technology introduced the world to handheld devices that literally put 24/7 access to information at our fingertips. But while apps let one stay connected to someone thousands of miles away, they have also all but eliminated the art of conversation, live and in person. After all, why congregate with neighbors on the front lawn when one can simply catch up online or via text!

What about the security provided by cameras you ask? They too are literally everywhere. Our phones and doorbells have cameras and they are installed on every corner of our homes. However, many mobile device owners are eager to capture wrongdoing not as a deterrent, but rather, to post content on social media platforms. In 1981, a young man named Matt Peskin – a volunteer like thousands of others across the nation – recognized a need for unity among neighborhoods. He created the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), a forum to help residents share resources and ideas by harnessing neighborhood involvement to help keep communities safe. NATW proved highly successful and continued to grow as it was embraced by law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Just three short years later the initial National Night Out (NNO) took place in 1984. Some 2.5 million neighbors in 400 communities and 23 states turned on their porch lights and sat on the stoop to interact and just be neighbors. The intent was to bridge the gap between community residents, neighborhood watch groups, law enforcement agencies, crime prevention associations and other civic organizations. All would work in conjunction with one another to help their communities remain safe.

Today, 38 years after its formation, 38 million neighbors from 16,000 communities across the U.S. actively support NNO. The vision of one man from Philadelphia has far exceeded anyone’s expectations. NNO events have grown to full-blown town events that bring together all members of the community. Former state senator Kay Bailey Hutchison stated that there is no better way to build a safer community than to know one’s neighbors and surroundings. She further commented that NNO has triumphed over a culture that isolates us from each other while helping us rediscover our own communities.

While cameras will help deter wrongdoing and social media documents what has already happened, nothing will make communities safer than knowing our neighbors and looking out for one another. With that in mind, introducing your community to the concept of National Night Out is your opportunity to be the catalyst of positive change. It will make the world a smaller, safer place while showing neighbors they have more in common than they might realize.

TIPS FOR HOSTING A SUCCESSFUL NATIONAL NIGHT OUT EVENT

As a community manager, board member or even an interested homeowner, there are many benefits of participating in a National Night Out event. Here are a few tips and comments from Community Managers who have hosted similar events in the past.

“It’s always potluck style, so a lot of people bring food, the coordinator gets a National Night Out cake and one resident brings out his grill and cooks burgers and hot dogs. It’s at the gazebo next to a pond in a well-shaded area. We might also do something like an ice cream truck this year.

“We’ve had the district supervisor come out with some aides to speak to people, and there’s always a few police officers and sheriff deputies as well. The police meet everyone individually and introduce themselves to the group at large. They are always friendly and pass out their cards, so people feel like they can reach out to them personally if they need to. This is probably the main benefit – residents getting some one-on-one time with the police, each other, me and the Board. I always get to meet new residents and those I’ve spoken to over the phone / email, but never in person.”

Autumn Szewczyk, CMCA®, AMS® Pinecrest Community Association

“For me personally, NNO and the community connectivity it represents, I feel is the biggest benefit for us in Seven Oaks. We live by “See Something, Say Something”, so NNO’s drive on community involvement is paramount for our residents right now.”

Karen Fooks, CMCA®, AMS® Seven Oaks Community Association

“Potomac Shores participates in National Night Out every year. National Night Out provides a great opportunity to bring police, neighbors and first responders together in a community-building campaign. It creates partnerships and a sense of neighborhood camaraderie with the goal to make communities a safer, more caring place to live.”

Daiane Studzinski, CMCA® Potomac Shores Residential Association, Inc.

Darrin S. Cassidy, CMCA®, AMS®, PCAM® is Branch Vice President with Associa Select Community Services in Chantilly, VA. He can be reached at dcassidy@scs-management.com.

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