national night out: building police and community ... · national night out 3 the work of...

National Night Out: BuildingPolice and CommunityPartnerships To Prevent Crime

On a Boston street corner where firebrands and revolutionaries gathered more than two centuries ago, Chris Hayes and his littleband of two stood on an August night in 1985, ready to shake

things up again.

The occasion was NationalNight Out (NNO). A youngman in Philadelphia namedMatt Peskin recently hadlaunched this new crimeprevention program as a wayfor people to begin takingback their neighborhoods bygathering in the streets onesummer night each year,turning on their house andporch lights, and celebratingtheir power to control events in the community. The idea was catching onin cities across the country.

Hayes was an early convert. “I knew that if we all just stood on our owndoorsteps, there wouldn’t be any crime,” he remembered. “I knew that,and I thought, ‘I’ve got to say that.’ ”

So Hayes, newly appointed as the sole staff member of the Boston PoliceDepartment’s crime watch unit, took his boss and the head of a neighbor-hood advocacy group down to Tremont and Park Streets at the edge of the

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

May 2000

Onsite Visits, Case Histories, and State and Local Innovations From the

Bureau of Justice Assistanceerspectives

ractitionerNancy E. Gist, Director

Bulletin From the Field

National Night Out was established in 1984with funding from the Bureau of JusticeAssistance (BJA), U.S. Department ofJustice. The program is administered bythe National Association of Town Watch, anationwide organization dedicated to thedevelopment, maintenance, and protectionof community-based, law enforcement-affiliated crime prevention activities.National Night Out was developed as acrime prevention program that emphasizesbuilding a partnership between the policeand the community. Community involve-ment in crime prevention is generatedthrough a multitude of local events, suchas block parties, cookouts, parades, con-tests, youth activities, and seminars.

With continued funding from BJA, partici-pation in National Night Out crime pre-vention activities has increased from 2.5million people in 400 communities in 1984to more than 32 million people in 9,530communities in 1999. Project 365, whichhelps communities target specific problemsover the course of the year, was alsodeveloped through BJA funding.

National Night Out’s objectives includerefining the nationwide crime preventioncampaign, documenting successful crimeprevention strategies, expanding Project365, disseminating information about successful community-based strategies,providing technical assistance on crimeprevention program development, anddeveloping the National Night Out Website. With continued support from BJA,National Night Out is making communitiesacross the nation safer places to live.

By Rebecca Morris

National Night Out block party in the Cedar Groveneighborhood in The Woodlands, Texas (see page 10).

2

Bulletin From the Field: Practitioner Perspectives

This series is dedicated to the exploration of vital issues in criminal justice program development and manage-ment. Case studies highlight the work of progressive, innovative people and programs in state and local criminaljustice systems. Although a case study may include a detailed description of the operational aspects of a program,it is not a scientific program evaluation. Rather, it is a document designed to explore the interaction of factorssuch as collaboration, politics, resources, culture, and others that play a part in successful public management.

Boston Public Garden. As hundredsmilled around the “T” subwayentrance, picnicked in the green, orjust hung out, Hayes took out a procla-mation and read it to the masses: Thegood people of Boston were takingback their neighborhoods on thisNational Night Out.

“Hardly anybody even looked up,” herecollected. Fourteen years later, onAugust 3, 1999, more than 25,000people in Boston rallied, held blockparties, and celebrated one of thelargest and most successful crimeprevention programs in the country.

Such growth has occurred nationwide.In 1999, the 16th National Night Out,more than 32 million people in 9,530communities gathered in parks andstreets and front yards, celebratingyearlong partnerships between policeand communities that have helpedreduce crime. In many cities,between 10 and 15 percent of thepopulation, sometimes more, partici-pated in National Night Out in someway—as organizers or donors, cooksor art contest judges, exhibit buildersor block captains, not to mention thepeople in charge of supplying icecream sprinkles.

In some locations there were seriousreminders of what is at stake. InChicago, 2 days after a young girl washit by a stray bullet while purchasingcandy from a corner store, more than3,000 NNO participants marched and

rallied in protest. Speaker afterspeaker appealed to the crowd:Someone must have seen what hap-pened; people don’t get shot in broaddaylight without someone knowingwho did it. By nightfall someonecame forward, and the police arrestedtwo young men.

In most communities, though, theNNO mood was festive. There wereaward dinners and parades and hugekickoff events. Mayors issued declarations, and police commission-ers praised community efforts. At theheart of National Night Out weregatherings of neighbors, opportunitiesfor residents to meet one another and local beat officers in a friendlyenvironment.

In Lodi, California, two newcomers toBayberry Street—Johnny and StaceyMoreno—agreed to host a NationalNight Out block party so they couldmeet their neighbors. It was the firsttime this block had celebrated. Whenthe party started, few people kneweach other. Two hours later, JohnnyMoreno knew Howard, Mark andSusan, Darrell and Cathy, Paul, Bill,and George. He knew which houseswere theirs, how long they had beenin the neighborhood, and how theyliked to spend their time. What’smost important, he knew he couldcall them for help if he needed some-one, say, to check on his house whilehis family was out of town. All ofthem met Det. Brian Scott for the first

time—he was the first police officerwith whom many had ever had a conversation.

In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Sgt.Douglas Arp continued his traditionof hosting one of the biggest andlongest National Night Out parties.NNO in this community lasts for 7days in August. Festivities havetaken place at the top of a billboardand inside an air-conditioned, steam-cleaned trash dumpster—whereverArp can draw the public’s attention tothe event. One year he literally holedup in a hole in the ground, completewith bed, chair, and fan. This year, hesat in a wrecked car, waving to themore than 1,160 passers-by and welcoming more than 560 visitors,most of them bearing food. In a townof just 25,000, Arp’s antics send a message about crime preventiondirectly to nearly 10 percent of thepopulation and to many more throughmedia coverage from nearby Jackson.

Many of these NNO events and gath-erings appear to be deceptively sim-ple. People get together and sharefood and drink, a few conversations,and a little information about theneighborhood or the town. To an out-sider, many of these celebrations areindistinguishable from any other bar-becue or street party, except for theNational Night Out banners andposters. But it is the year-round effortof building neighborhood organiza-tions and partnerships with police—

National Night Out

3

the work of organizing National NightOut events—that gives this night itsspecial meaning.

“This is not ‘Kiss a Cop Day’ orsomething like that,” said Peskin,founder of National Night Out andexecutive director of the NationalAssociation of Town Watch (NATW),which runs the program. “It’s a pro-gram that really makes a difference.It’s a lot of fun to put together, itreaches deep into neighborhood- andcommunity-building, and it works.”

When Peskin started National NightOut, he hoped simply to develop ahigher profile for the communitycrime watch activities that he knewwere helping to deter crime. The pro-gram has become a good example ofthe social capital-building that socialscientists have identified as importantfor reducing crime.

The authors of a 1995 study ofChicago neighborhoods, Neigh-borhood Collective Efficacy: Does ItHelp Reduce Violence?, publishedin the journal Science and by theNational Institute of Justice, foundthat the largest single predictor ofcrime levels was “collective efficacy,”which they defined as mutual trustamong neighbors combined with will-ingness to intervene on behalf of thecommon good. Neighborhoods withhigh collective efficacy scores hadcrime rates 40 percent below thosein lower scoring neighborhoods.1

Dr. Wesley Skogan, professor of polit-ical science at NorthwesternUniversity in Chicago, who has exam-ined these issues in his research,noted that “where people are involvedin neighborhood organizations, have

extensive acquain-tance networks,and are willing toget involved,there’s a reductionin violent crime.”2

National Night Outwas founded in1984 with $15,000from the NationalCrime PreventionCouncil’s grantfrom the Bureau ofJustice Assistance(BJA); since then funding for theevent has increased steadily.

Senator Arlen Specter (R–PA) hasbeen the primary advocate of NNOfunding for many years. “NationalNight Out represents an imaginativeand effective approach to crime pre-vention,” said spokesperson CharlesRobbins. “[Senator Specter] has sup-ported it and expects to support it inthe future.”

In a community impact assessment of the program conducted in 1998,nearly 90 percent of law enforcementofficers who responded to the surveysaid NNO in 1997 had enhancedtheir agencies’ policing programs.Three-quarters of residents said theyfelt either more or much more com-fortable contacting law enforcementofficers after National Night Out, and64 percent said they felt safer in theircommunities. Perhaps most importantfor generating partnerships betweenresidents and police, residents report-ed meeting, on average, five new lawenforcement officers during the event.More than half of the respondentssaid they had met 25 or more fellowresidents.

National Night Out evolved in partbecause a writer was running out ofsubjects to write about. In 1981,Peskin was responsible for his neigh-borhood crime watch group’s newslet-ter. When he contacted other groupsfor story ideas, he noticed that everygroup was having a problem sustain-ing volunteer interest. He suggestedthey start an association to coordinatetheir activities and share information.

The National Association of TownWatch was born, and the idea spreadto other cities. Soon, Peskin wasseeking ways to get even more peopleinvolved in crime watch groups.“There was no need to be quite solow profile about it,” he said.

Peskin remembers two images thathelped shape the National Night Outidea in his mind. One was the scenefrom the movie “Network” in whichthe anchor urges viewers to go totheir windows, lean out, and shout,“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going totake it anymore.” The other was asoft drink ad about a program calledHands Across America. “I loved thatidea but I didn’t like the idea thatyou had to pay to stand in line,”

Matt Peskin, founder of National Night Out and executive director ofthe National Association of Town Watch.

4


Peskin recalled. “Also, it wasn’t realclear what they were doing.”

But Peskin knew what NATW need-ed. “I felt we needed to do somethingdifferent and powerful and produc-tive, something high profile, with ahigh impact and broad scale.”Inspired by the two film images,Peskin developed the idea forNational Night Out and presented it to his board.

The original concept was very simple:Everyone in a neighborhood would siton their front porch for an hour withthe lights on “to send a clear signalthat there [are] more of us than thereare of them,” Peskin recalled. Hestarted promoting it in April 1984.The following August, 400 communi-ties with 2.5 million people in 23states participated in the firstNational Night Out.

Among the first cities participatingwere Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis,New York, and Philadelphia. Despitethe success, “it wasn’t like it was areal easy sell,” Peskin recalled.Police chiefs were wary of gettinginvolved with the new organizationbecause “if it fell on its face, theywould look like idiots.” The largeturnout and positive media coveragewon them over, and the next yearmore than 2,100 communities celebrated the event.

Over the years, the national office inPhiladelphia and various communi-ties have added special elements tothe celebration. Block parties were aninnovation in 1986. The followingyear, with the introduction of theawards program, “the communitiesreally got into it,” competing for top

honors in their city-size category,Peskin said. In 1994, Project 365was launched to help communitiesidentify specific projects they couldaddress year-round. The projects,which have included cleaning localparks, removing graffiti, and estab-lishing new services, begin on NightOut and conclude 365 days later.

SC Johnson is NNO’s primary corpo-rate sponsor, contributing funds aswell as promotional materials such asthe banners, posters, door-hangers,and product coupons that block captains use to organize events. Thecompany also organizes local retailersof Johnson products to offer sponsor-ships, listing them on the promotionalmaterials. “We look for programs thatbring meaning from consumer andtrade perspectives and programs thatgive back to the community,” saidMarty Killinger, SC Johnson’s manag-er for promotional resources.

But there are literally thousands ofother local and regional businessesthat contribute to the events: grocerystores donate food, utilities lowerelectricity rates on National NightOut, and large employers subsidizeemployees’ block parties or offer theirparking lots for gatherings.

Today, NATW is still lean, with a 5-person office and $700,000 budget.Each February, the office sends outmore than 10,000 organizationalpackets to groups around the country,telling them how to organize orexpand NNO events; how to orderbanners, posters, and door-hangerslisting the names of local sponsors;how to generate media interest inadvance of and during National NightOut; and whom to contact. The kitsprovide camera-ready artwork, sam-ple press releases, a sample NationalNight Out proclamation, and an arrayof other material to guide local organ-izers through the planning process.Participants receive additional mail-ings in May and July, as well as fournewsletters throughout the year.

Each year the national office organizes a huge kickoff event inPhiladelphia the night beforeNational Night Out. After the event,staff review contest submissions fromthousands of cities and towns, eachvying to be ranked as the best amongcities of their size. For the contest,communities submit notebooks andvideos with accounts of successfulcrime watch groups and NationalNight Out events.

In 1997, BJA funded development ofa Web site (www.natw.org), at whichgroups can obtain information aboutor register for NNO. Eventually userswill be able to order equipment andperhaps participate in National NightOut discussion groups through theWeb site.

The main action, of course, takesplace in cities and towns around thecountry. The following five cities havebeen ranked among the best in theirsize category by NATW for many

More than 32 million people in

9,530 communities gathered in

parks and streets and front

yards, celebrating yearlong part-

nerships between police and

communities that have helped

reduce crime.

National Night Out

5

years: New Orleans, Louisiana;Minneapolis, Minnesota; TheWoodlands (Houston), Texas; Boston,Massachusetts; and Lodi, California.Although there are similarities amongcommunities nationwide that cele-brate National Night Out, these citiesexemplify the best thinking abouthow to make the program successful.

New Orleans,LouisianaThe evening of August 3, 1999, wasas hot and humid as any summernight can be in New Orleans, anevening when those riding the famedstreetcars into the city’s GardenDistrict fanned themselves andwished for something cool to drink.It was weather that typically keepspeople inside their air-conditionedhomes rather than out on the streets.

But this night 18,000 people werecelebrating at more than 375 neighborhood events. It was a nightwhen city officials, law enforcementofficers, leaders from communities offaith, business leaders, and neighbor-hood residents paused to reflect onthe roles each had played in realizinga 46-percent decrease in violentcrime since 1995.

Police Sgt. Greg Elder and his staffcoordinate each year’s NationalNight Out, but the event is the culmination of yearlong efforts toinvolve communities in fightingcrime. Throughout the year, Elder’sdepartment works closely withneighborhood associations andNeighborhood Watch programs toshare local crime statistics, hear residents’ perspectives, and developeffective interventions in response to citizens’ concerns.

National Night Out focuses attentionon the success of these efforts andencourages more citizens to getinvolved in crime prevention activities. The event has become soinstitutionalized, Elder said, that“people feel like they’re missing outon something if they’re not a part ofit. There’s almost a competitionbetween neighborhoods to see whocan be most effective.”

The night is designed to accomplishsix goals:

◆ Provide an opportunity for neighbors to meet one another.

◆ Increase interaction and communication among citizens,police, and city leaders.

◆ Build relationships of trust andrespect among residents, police,and city leaders.

◆ Encourage citizens to becomeinvolved in fighting crime.

◆ Allow people to recognize and celebrate the successes they have achieved through cooperative efforts.

◆ Give residents and police achance to recommit to workingtogether.

New Orleans’ events on NationalNight Out are as diverse as the

city’s neighborhoods. Some focuson involving children and youth inorganizing and participating in theevent. Diane Sakowski, organizer for the Willowbrook Apartments, saysshe got involved because she wasconcerned about children and theirwell-being. “With innocent kids getting killed on the streets every dayfrom drugs, gangs, and other violentacts, I had no choice but to getinvolved,” she said. “The kids areour future and if we don’t invest inthem now, we’ll pay later on.”

Planning for the Willowbrook celebra-tion begins several months beforeNNO and explicitly involves youngpeople. This year’s events included apotluck dinner, a youth talent show,and group singing and dancing.“Experience shows that when youthare involved, they not only show upand get to know each other, they bringtheir parents with them,” Sakowskisaid. “This gives the adults theopportunity to meet each other andsee youth involved in positive activ-ities. It also provides the opportuni-ty to talk with both adults and youthabout crime-related issues and togive them information on how to pro-tect themselves and their property.”

Other events are organized aroundmusic, such as the one held this yearin the Lakefront Area on beautifulLake Pontchartrain, where the PetitBois, a band of young people aged 8to 13, provided the entertainment.The band’s message to other youthwas pick up an instrument, not agun—make music rather than getinto trouble. More than 100 adultswere on hand to celebrate as well.

District A City Council MemberSuzanne Terrell, who attended this

New Orleans’ events on National

Night Out are as diverse as the

city’s neighborhoods. Some

focus on involving children

and youth in organizing and

participating in the event.

6


event, noted that “New Orleans hasalways been a neighborhood-focusedcity where people care about eachother. National Night Out, however,provides an organized opportunity topublicly say to criminals that citizensliving in this neighborhood are notgoing to put up with criminal activity.If you do something wrong there willbe a reaction from the neighborhoodresidents as well as the policedepartment. This is very effective in preventing crimes.”

And then there is the famed FrenchQuarter, where parties happen 365days a year. This year’s NationalNight Out celebration, organized byB.B. St. Roman, was one of the fewevents in the Quarter at which localsoutnumbered tourists. With her beau-tiful cockatoo, Iko, sitting on hershoulder, St. Roman recalled thatwhen she first moved to the FrenchQuarter she lived behind lockeddoors because she was afraid to goout into the streets.

“When I saw my 90-year-old neighborgoing out onto the street shouting atsome kids who were vandalizing prop-erty, I knew I had to get involved,” St.

Roman said. “Irealized that ifshe could beinvolved, socould I. If Iwanted to havea nice block tolive on, I had todo something.That meantcoming out frombehind lockeddoors, getting to

know my neigh-bors, finding outfrom police what

kind of crime was occurring in myneighborhood, and then taking a rolein stopping that crime.” According toSt. Roman, their neighborhood effortshave been successful. “The neigh-borhood is a different place now thanit was just 3 years ago,” she said.“Drug trafficking is down substan-tially as are quality-of-life crimes.We now have reason to celebrate!”

New Orleans may know how to party,but everyone involved in NationalNight Out—neighborhood residents,city officials, business leaders, andpolice—agreed on a set of best prac-tices required to give New Orleans, or any city, something to celebrate.

Leadership from the top. All sectors, including the police, business community, and city govern-ment, must support the effort, andthey must understand and make acommitment to the fundamentals of community policing and citizeninvolvement in crime reduction. InNew Orleans, new Police Superinten-dent Richard Pennington restruc-tured the department to get more offi-cers working in the neighborhoodsand redesigned the officer training

program to emphasize building effective community partnerships. The city’s business leadershipendowed a Police Foundation withenough resources to provide supplemental funds for communitypolicing, and elected officials upgraded police salaries andincreased the number of police officers. All of these groups activelyparticipate in NNO activities.

Leadership at the grassrootslevel. In each neighborhood atleast one local resident must takeresponsibility for community organ-izing. In most cases this involvesyear-round coordination of neighbor-hood meetings, monitoring of crimestatistics, and engagement of city andpolice department officials whenappropriate.

Each neighborhood has various assets upon which to build, including residents, faith communities, and community-based service organiza-tions. Roles for these partners need tobe identified so they can become partof the solution. In New Orleans theseroles include providing space formeetings, contributing funds for aNational Night Out event, providingphotocopying services for communitymeeting notices, distributing thenotices, and providing recognition ofcommunity citizens working on crimereduction activities.

Relationships of trust andrespect between citizens andpolice. A conscious effort must bemade to provide opportunities for citizens and police to get to know oneanother. Communication must be two-way—that is, citizens need to hearwhat concerns police have and policeneed to hear what citizens have to

Block captains for the Gentilly Gardens Neighborhoods Watch Group inNew Orleans. Left to right: Martha Johnson, Rebecca Bell, Rachelle Defillo, Carol LaMotte, and Val Lacey.

National Night Out

7

say. Recognition that each has some-thing to contribute to making neigh-borhoods safe is critical to formingthe partnerships necessary to beeffective in reducing crime.

In New Orleans, police officers areexpected to attend any NeighborhoodWatch meeting at which they areneeded and the police departmentprovides monthly briefings for neighborhood leaders noting crimescommitted in their neighborhood during the month. Further, if specialcircumstances arise and neighbor-hood leaders need special meetings,the police make themselves available.

A point person in the policedepartment to coordinate NNOefforts citywide. Because NationalNight Out is part of an overall com-munity policing strategy, Sgt. Elderhas not only responsibility for theprogram but the authority andresources to make it happen.

Effective pre- and posteventpublicity. Among the strategiesused in New Orleans to secure pub-licity are a partnership with a localtelevision station to provide publici-ty before, during, and after theevents; contributions from CoxCommunications to develop publicservice announcements; supportfrom local television and radio stations to schedule appearances bypolice, citizens, and city leaders onlocal broadcasts; phone interviewsas requested by the media; an in-kind contribution advertising theevent on the Superdome pylon;advertising space on billboards andin bus shelters contributed byOutdoor Systems; and advertisingspace on taxicab displays.

Public recogni-tion for jobs welldone. Any indi-vidual, business,or organizationthat participates inthe coordination orsponsorship of anevent should bepublicly recog-nized for con-tributing. Therecognition takesmany forms, rang-ing from thank-you letters from public officials to public recognitionceremonies at which awards are presented.

Linkage of National Night Out toyear-round efforts. NeighborhoodWatch, neighborhood associations,civic groups, neighborhood town hallmeetings, and other gatherings of citi-zens can provide the opportunity totalk about crime prevention on anongoing basis.

Officials and residents argued thatthese critical elements of NationalNight Out, together with an effectivecommunity policing strategy, havebeen central to reducing crime. “Wedon’t have to have a policeman onevery corner,” said Police Capt. ErnieDemma, commander of the EighthDistrict in the French Quarter. “Butwe do have to have citizens workingwith the police. A 10-percentincrease in citizen participation isequivalent to a 50-percent increase in police manpower.”

Minneapolis,Minnesota“Zhoo...Way...Noh...Dig” read thebrightly colored poster, one of many

adorning the walls of the MinnesotaIndian Women’s Resource Center.The phrase, written in Ojibwe in achild’s handwriting, means “Takingcare of each other,” a crime pre-vention message for the Center’s celebration of National Night Out. Inthe cafeteria, dozens of women fromthe Dakota, Lakota, and Ho-chunkNations sat talking while young chil-dren played, filling the space withlaughter and joy. Sue Kincade, theCenter’s human resources coordina-tor, organized the event in coopera-tion with other city leaders and spokeof teaching Native-American children“understanding, not violence.”

A few blocks away in PowderhornPark, State Patrol Air Wing TrooperBob Ringold gently set his helicopterdown on the park’s playing field.Dozens of delighted children andtheir curious parents joined BarbKing, NNO organizer for the 3100block of 14th Avenue South, in thiskickoff of what she called the“Avenue of the Stars” block party.More than 400 former and currentneighbors, listening to the rock bandRick and the Resisters, would enjoythe summer evening’s crime preven-tion event. Back in the park, familieseagerly waited to pose for a picture

In New Orleans, the Louisiana Superdome’s electronic billboard adver-tises National Night Out events.

8


activists, told success stories of overcoming the tragedy of a neigh-borhood murder and victories incombating burglary, drug dealing,prostitution, petty theft, traffic

problems, nuisance houses, fear, andhopelessness—challenging neighbor-hood problems that motivated them tostep forward and take back theirstreets, parks, and peace of mind.

It’s hard to imagine an undercurrentof crime in a city with such naturalbeauty, a booming economy, and a history of progressive civic-mindedness. Think of Mary TylerMoore’s portrayal of Mary Richardstossing her hat in the air in downtownMinneapolis, and you sense thepromise of this City of Lakes.

alongside city and park police, whileTrooper Bob discussed the $1.7 mil-lion aircraft’s role in crime prevention.

At the Madison Apartments on the500 block of East15th Street, locat-ed in Minneapolis’Central neighbor-hood, AliaMohamed, wear-ing traditionalSomalian dress,sat in a circle withother Somalianwomen, quietlyencouraging theirparticipation incommunity organ-izing. Moments before the yard of theapartment complex had been filledwith the smells of East African foods,enjoyed by the neighbors and localcommunity crime prevention policeofficers. As the event came to a close,children ran freely on the lush lawns,Somalian men huddled together inthe setting sun, and teenage boysdressed in Tommy Hilfiger clotheshung out in groups watching theteenage girls. For the Somalis this wasthe first National Night Out eventorganized for their large and growingcommunity. This evening’s theme,expressed by Abdi Gure, was TakeCharge of Your Neighborhood, a newconcept to these refugees from acountry torn asunder by civil strife.

As National Night Out events unfold-ed across the city, Minneapolis,which is ranked first among largecities by NATW for organizing crimeprevention block clubs, lived up to itsreputation. Organizers for the city,including Kincade, King, Gure, andMohamed, along with many other

In the newly renovated interior courtof the Minneapolis City Hall, MayorSharon Sayles Belton, the firstAfrican-American woman to be elect-ed mayor in a major American city,thanked city employees for their partin the success of National Night Out.This year, she said, more than 850block parties representing 1,714blocks registered. (Later, policeannounced that more than 42,105 citi-zens, or 11.5 percent of the city’s pop-ulation, had participated, representing 30 percent of its streets.)

About to embark on a whirlwind tourof 10 block parties, the mayor laughedthat she would eat her way “across the

city,” joining resi-dents who werefilling streets,parks, and schoolyards for anevening of food,fun, and, mostimportant, conversation.

This year’stheme—Back to Basics—emphasized

strengthening existing block clubsand organizing new ones. TheresaRuhland, a crime prevention manag-er for CCP/SAFE, the MinneapolisPolice Department’s communitycrime prevention unit, noted that“block clubs in Minneapolis, and inMinnesota in general, grew out of along history of civic-mindedness andneighborhood organizing.” LucyGerold, director of the police depart-ment’s community services bureau,explained that “block associationsand the organizing of block leadersdate back to the early seventies whena Department of Justice’s Law

The Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis comes together on the 2500block of 16th Avenue South.

Alia Mohamed and Abdi Gure, civilian employees of the Minneapolis PoliceDepartment and community crime prevention organizers, preside over the firstNational Night Out event organized for the growing Somalian community.

National Night Out

9

Enforcement Assistance Admin-istration [LEAA] grant provided theseed money for three pilot projects to develop local block clubs” with a focus on reducing neighborhoodburglaries. Today, among many other crime prevention activities,CCP/SAFE coordinates Minneapolis’National Night Out.

CCP/SAFE’s Unit 24 organizes teams(each consisting of a uniformed offi-cer and a civilian crime preventionspecialist) assigned to the city’s 5precincts. A central crime preventionoffice houses three crime preventionmanagers and support staff who coor-dinate the CCP/SAFE programs.Working in collaboration with othercity departments and social serviceagencies, CCP/SAFE teams address awide variety of “livability problems,”meeting routinely with block clubs,neighborhood associations, and other community groups to prioritizeproblems and to involve residents insolutions.

To create and strengthen block clubs,the backbone of community crimeprevention efforts, CCP/SAFE worksyear-round to engage citizens in community organizing. Dozens of volunteers, block leaders, corporate sponsors, and CCP/SAFE personnelmeet monthly to plan and organizeNNO—sending out information, newsreleases, announcements, block partysuggestions, and street-closing per-mits. The philosophy of Minneapolis’National Night Out event is capturedin five key messages, reinforced inNational Night Out and CCP/SAFEliterature and presentations:

◆ Cohesive, healthy neighborhoodsare key to preventing crime andviolence.

◆ Active block clubs build commu-nity, increase hope, and createharmony.

◆ Positive activities displace nega-tive activities; as people spendmore time outside, they take backtheir streets and neighborhoods.

◆ National Night Out is an opportu-nity for all parts of the community,including businesses, corporatesponsors, religious institutions,city agencies, and news media, to come together to promote theshared goal of a safe, healthy community.

◆ National Night Out reinforces thepartnership of citizens and policeto combat crime.

From April through July, CCP/SAFEteams conducted outreach to morethan 200 blocks, and 66 new blockclub meetings were organized. “If aneighborhood does not have a blockclub, CCP/SAFE team members willgo door to door to encourage some-one to step forward and assist withorganizing the neighborhood,”Ruhland said. Gerold captured theresponsibility block leaders assumein neighborhood problem solving bynoting “block organizers can’t beanonymous—your life is on theblock, you are connected, you arejust a door or two away from a problem or a solution.”

When a block club has been organ-ized, CCP/SAFE team members offerleadership training and help organiz-ers set up meetings in their homes,local schools, churches, or precinctstation houses. Throughout the yearCCP/SAFE teams offer 2 1/2-hourblock club leadership trainings. In1998, more than 200 people attend-ed, of whom 61 organized new block

clubs and National Night Out streetparties. The highly successful blockclub leadership trainings consist ofsix elements:

◆ An overview of the CCP/SAFEand Minneapolis Police Depart-ment organizational structuresand functions.

◆ An introduction to crime preven-tion strategies such as making ahome safer through physical secu-rity (hardware) improvements.

◆ A review of crime prevention programs sponsored by the policedepartment, such as the McGruffHouse (a residence on the blockdesignated as a safe house forchildren under 12) and Watch-force (a group of citizens who participate in surveillance andreporting of community problems).

◆ A discussion of issues such asbuilding community in diversesettings, youth involvement, and networking.

◆ Lessons on the basics of organiz-ing a block/apartment club/

Minneapolis, which is ranked first

among large cities by NATW for

organizing crime prevention block

clubs, lived up to its reputation.

Organizers for the city told success

stories of overcoming the tragedy

of a neighborhood murder and

victories in combating burglary,

drug dealing, prostitution, petty

theft, traffic problems, nuisance

houses, fear, and hopelessness.

10


network, including the roles andresponsibilities of block leaders.

◆ Information on how to solve 16“common problems” such as traffic problems, youth causingneighborhood disturbances, prostitution, loitering, drug houses, abandoned dwellings,and adult and child welfare issues.

A beat-up van sits in a parking lotbehind an abandoned building downthe street from Linda Kolkind’s homeon the 3700 block of 14th AvenueSouth. On the sides of the van, inneatly spray-painted letters, are thestatements “Real Men Don’t BuyWomen” and “Pimps Are Wimps.”The parking lot, once a meetingplace for johns and prostitutes, ser-viced a booming sex industry alongthe busy commercial strip adjacent toKolkind’s tree-lined street. Kolkindknew all too well Gerold’s observa-tion that “block organizers can’t beanonymous” when she approachedpimps, prostitutes, and johns to stopthe noise and chaos the open-air sexmarket created.

Joining with another neighbor (“Youcan’t do this kind of work alone”),making demands of the local precinctand councilmember (“We must havecalled a hundred times”), workingwith the vice squad (“They observedfrom my living room window”), andcollaborating with the CCP/SAFEteam, Kolkind went door to door,organizing her neighbors in an effortto develop a strategy of peaceful,legal, in-your-face confrontation thatpushed the sex trade out of herneighborhood and off her block.

On National Night Out, Kolkind celebrated by sitting in a lawn chairin the center of her street talking

with friends. A few houses away, herneatly kept yard, dotted with perenni-als and enclosed by a picket fence,belied the fact that this now peacefulstreet was once the scene of dozensof cruising cars with drivers search-ing for a quick exchange of sex formoney. Shortly after moving to theblock and into her first home, theself-described ex-hippie, seeing thedrug and sex trades, thought she hadmade a huge mistake and consideredmoving to a safer part of town.Instead Kolkind decided to take astand and “stop the insanity” beingcreated by the noise and crime in herneighborhood. Today, ever vigilant,Kolkind’s gutsy organizing skills havereaped a strong block club and several more on adjoining streets.

The Woodlands(Houston), TexasDriving down the WoodlandsParkway on National Night Out, younever would have known that morethan half the residents of TheWoodlands were out partying withtheir neighbors. That’s because virtu-ally all 20,000 homes here are con-cealed behind walls of pine trees,deep inside a maze of streets andcul-de-sacs.

Like so much else in this plannedcommunity 30 miles north of

Houston, the winding streets withnames like Rush Haven and PeacefulCanyon Drive are deliberate attemptsto make residents feel secure. Morethan three-fourths of the streets endin cul-de-sacs, making it hard forburglars to find their way around andeasy for residents to get to know theirneighbors. This neighborhood is notonly a hidden haven where everyhome comes wired for security butalso a community where neighborswatch out for neighbors even thoughthe population has doubled in thelast decade.

“We know every single person in thisneighborhood,” said Vickie Busic asshe pushed her infant son down herstreet in a stroller and chatted withneighbors on National Night Out.“Every single one. There are only twoways in here and two ways out, and ifsomebody’s not supposed to be here,we know it.”

Busic, a stay-at-home mom, saidher husband, a sales manager for a wine company, has twice turneddown job offers in the 3 yearsthey’ve lived here so they couldstay in The Woodlands. “This is our extended family,” she said.“Someday I’ll be able to let mychild play outside and know I’m notthe only one keeping an eye on him.That’s why we live here.”

That desire to be part of a commu-nity is typical of The Woodlands’56,000 residents and one of the mainreasons 32,000 of them participatedin NNO this year, said Marian Leck,manager of Woodlands Watch, theneighborhood crime watch group thatcoordinates National Night Out forthe area.

Police announced that more than

42,105 citizens, or 11.5 percent

of Minneapolis’ population, had

participated, representing

30 percent of its streets.

National Night Out

11

prevention andpublic safety year-round—fromcurb-numbering toregistering bicy-cles to organizinga telephone net-work throughwhich the sheriffcan issue crimewatch alerts—culminating inNational NightOut. In TheWoodlands, thestaff’s salaries and

these programs cost the owner of a$164,000 house, the median saleprice there, less than $11 a year.

Although the staff does not answer toa volunteer advisory board or citygovernment in this unincorporatedcommunity—but to the boards of theproperty owners’ associations them-selves—at the core of WoodlandsWatch are 1,100 volunteers who coor-dinate Watch events in their neigh-borhoods. From the ranks of thosevolunteers came almost all of thisyear’s 300 NNO coordinators, whosigned up to help out after receivingparty registration forms inside theWoodlands Watchword newsletter sentto all Woodlands Watch volunteers inJune. National Night Out could nothave achieved the popularity it has inThe Woodlands without these volun-teers, who hang signs, remind theirneighbors about National Night Outwhen they meet for softball, fill balloons with free helium at the gro-cery store, and decide which side oftheir street’s residents should bringthe ice cream and which should bring the sprinkles. But much of theevening’s success is attributed to the

full-time staff who handle paperwork,publicity, finances, and, most of all, planning.

“It’s easy to be a volunteer herebecause it’s so organized,” saidStephanie Teed, a music teacher whohas helped coordinate her neighbor-hood’s party for the past 7 years.“You just call them up and say, ‘Iwant to have a party,’ and they sendyou a packet with everything youneed to know.”

Woodlands Watch’s planning beginsearly, before city pools and parkshave been reserved. In January orFebruary, the staff schedules a seriesof pre-events that generate publicityfor National Night Out, educate thepublic on crime prevention, and giveresidents additional opportunities tointeract with sheriff’s and constable’sdeputies, FBI agents, 911 dispatch-ers, firefighters, and emergency medical workers. On the agenda for1999 were Meet the Police Day at anew sheriff’s station in May; FamilyFun Night at the YMCA pool in June;and National Night Out with Sirensand Suspenders for fifth, sixth, andseventh graders at the WoodlandsRecreation Center in July. From afloat at the Montgomery CountyFourth of July Parade, Watch workersalso passed out 2,500 fans—“notnearly enough,” Leck said—invitingresidents to National Night Out.

These pre-events cost WoodlandsWatch approximately $200, mostlyfor hot dogs and chips. The groupalso paid a local company $2,200 toproduce a video about National NightOut in The Woodlands as part of itsentry in the nationwide NNO compe-tition. An additional $4,500 wenttoward purchasing the fans and other

From left, 15-year-old Catherine Bourne, 12-year-old Caitlyn Hopkins,and 15-year-old Shannon Hopkins check out safety tips for teens at aparty for the Cochran’s Green neighborhood in The Woodlands.

John

Eve

rett

“People move here because theywant to be part of a community, andthat makes my job that much easier,”said Leck, a former sheriff’s deputy.“They know that if you create a senseof community, that will lead to a safe community.”

Just how safe? Lt. Ollie Coward,commander of the MontgomeryCounty Sheriff’s Department districtthat includes The Woodlands, saidthat although theft is a problem inthis fast-growing area, particularly atconstruction sites, there are relativelyfew home burglaries and “anastounding lack of violent crime.”In 1997, there were just 0.78 violentcrimes for every 1,000 residents,compared with 11.74 in Houston.

But Woodlands residents pay for theirsecurity. Woodlands Watch is one ofthe nation’s few Neighborhood Watchgroups with a paid staff, and its$237,000-a-year budget comes fromthe annual dues homeowners andbusiness owners pay their communityassociations. Leck, two other full-time organizers, and three part-timeassistants work to promote crime

12


promotional good-ies from NATW:1,000 balloons,500 T-shirts, 500frisbees, 432 pen-cils, and 36 capsto give away tovolunteers, publicsafety personnel,and contest win-ners. Throughfunding from SCJohnson, thenational associa-tion also provided4,000 invitations tohang on residents’ doors, 400 posters,and 10 banners—plus suggestions forsafety games, sample press releases,and tips for organizing the event.

Since its first National Night Out 9 years ago with just 60 volunteers,Woodlands Watch has not had anyproblems organizing the event. By thetime the big night rolled around thisyear, Woodlands Watch staffers hadnothing left to do except drop in at as many of the area’s 128 parties aspossible before sunset.

Each party also received visits fromsome of the 57 public safety person-nel who participated in NationalNight Out. School police officersarrived on bikes or with their K–9partners. Mall security guards onhorseback visited senior centers.Firefighters brought their trucks;emergency medical workers, theirambulances; and deputy constables,their patrol cars. Sheriff’s deputiespassed out collector cards, producedby the Optimists Club and sponsoredby local businesses, featuring localdeputies instead of baseball players.

To make sure there were enough public safety personnel to attend this

year’s parties—1,100 houses hadbeen built since last year’s NNO—Woodlands Watch encouraged coordi-nators to consolidate block parties atneighborhood parks. Where therewould have been seven small partiesa few years ago, there may have beenonly one big party this year.

That’s the kind of organization thatlaw enforcement agencies appreciate.Constable Tim Holifield said his onlycontribution to National Night Outin The Woodlands was schedulingenough deputy constables to workthat night. By giving them an extraday off before the event, he doesn’thave to pay overtime. Likewise, theSheriff’s Department avoids payingovertime by careful scheduling, saidCoward. It’s a time commitment lawenforcement agencies are willing tomake in the hope that friendlyencounters with a deputy will makechildren feel that they can turn to the police when they need help andmake adults feel like they’re part of a crime-fighting partnership with police.

“This is a chance to let people meetus when they’re not getting a trafficticket,” Coward said. “This is a

chance to educate citizens on howthey can be our eyes and ears.”

Boston, MassachusettsNearly two dozen police cars, lightspulsating, sirens screaming, pouredinto the streets of the Dorchester sec-tion of Boston in late afternoon onAugust 3, 1999. People froze on thestreet, eyes wide with curiosity.

This entrance was impressive, but thepolice weren’t there to perform a drugbust or break up a loud party. Theyhad come instead to make some noiseof their own. It was the last day ofNational Night Out in Boston, a 5-day celebration of the partnershipbetween police and neighborhoodcrime watch groups. With the cityenjoying its lowest crime rate in morethan three decades, there was a lot tocelebrate.

Dorchester Avenue was blocked offfor the celebration. There wereclowns, face-painting booths,Vietnamese dragon dancers, Africandancing demonstrations, and free icecream for the kids. Tables wereloaded with information about HIVand AIDS prevention, senior services, and a local community health center.

In every corner of the city, partieswere jumping. Some were official celebrations with hundreds of partici-pants, visited by a cavalcade that attimes included 29 cars and nearly100 police and top city officials.Others were smaller affairs. Mostwere funded through donations ordiscounts offered by area businessesand were organized by communitypolice officers and neighborhoodcrime watch groups. The moneyraised for each party was relatively

Cpl. Matt Blakelock of the Conroe Independent School District’s policeforce talks with children at a park party for the Cochran’s Green neigh-borhood in The Woodlands.

John

Eve

rett

National Night Out

13

modest (up to $1,300), but there weresubstantial in-kind donations andparty organizers made their purchas-es carefully to stretch their funds.

In East Boston seniors and youthenjoyed bouquets of blue balloonsand a seven-piece brass band, whilepolice officer Daniel Simons grilledsome of the 1,200 hamburgers andhot dogs that were donated by a localsupermarket chain. Simons said thatthis was a day for residents to see thepolice as regular people. “Sometimesthey feel when they see us in uniformthat we’re a little unapproachable.But when they see us like this,” hegestured with a spatula, “theybecome a little more friendly.”

In Jamaica Plain, Police CommunityService Supervisor Larry van Zandtdonned a big smile and a tall chef’shat. “This is our way of showing thecommunity we truly serve them,” hequipped as he stoked two hot grills.

From 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. the city’stop brass, including the mayor andthe police commissioner, attended 10

celebrations in every police districtin the city, applauding residents forparticipating in crime watch groups.The day’s celebration began on theMassachusetts Avenue Bridge, whichspans the Charles River betweenBoston and Cambridge, where policeand citizens from 21 towns and citiesheld hands while helicopters buzzedoverhead and police and fire depart-ment boats sprayed fountains ofwater below. It was a symbolic act of the partnership between policeand residents.

“They’re the eyes and ears of theBoston Police Department,”Superintendent and Chief RobertFaherty said of the citizen crimewatchers in the city. “They knowthings that are going on in theirneighborhoods that we’d never knowbecause they’re there all the time.And it’s their information that makesthe streets safe.”

Elsa Ogunjobi’s neighborhood is aperfect example. Ogunjobi is a singlemother and nurse who must oftenreturn home late at night and until

recently had been living right behinda crack house. “It was dangerous andI was afraid something might gowrong and there might be a shoot-out,” she remembered.

Just 2 weeks before National NightOut, police cleaned out the house,and the arrests were in large part theresult of work by the crime watchgroup Ogunjobi helped start 7 yearsago. “We just got together as a fami-ly,” she recalled of her neighbors.They watched the house and talkedon the phone, noted faces and licenseplates, and worked with communitypolice officer Paul Johnston, who hasbeen in their Dorchester neighbor-hood for 8 years. “He’s a dear friendto me because he works so hard onmy street to keep us safe,” Ogunjobisaid. “And he promised that and hestuck to his promise.”

Ogunjobi could barely contain herenthusiasm as she listened to cityand police officials address thecrowd gathered in Dorchester onNational Night Out. Like a one-woman crime watch cheerleader, she

Representatives from 21 Boston area communities join hands across the Massachusetts Avenue bridge linking Boston and Cambridge to help kick offNational Night Out.

Bos

ton

Her

ald

14


shouted out her approval. “Yeah!”she whooped, waving her hand in theair, urging the speakers on.

Boston’s crime watch program hasbuilt relationships not only betweenpolice and residents but also amongresidents. Those who have been partof a crime watch group say they helpweave a strong support web fromneighbor to neighbor, overcoming themany barriers that sometimes keeppeople apart. Ogunjobi’s neighborhoodis home to Asian, Caucasian, LatinAmerican, Caribbean, and African-American residents. She describesher street residents as close-knit.“Because we have been through a lotof severe crimes, we have come to benot only neighbors, but family.”

As mentioned earlier, 14 years ago,Hayes started the first crime watchgroup in Boston on his block in theSouth End. The summer before hejoined the police department, hisstreet was tormented by a series ofmuggings. Hayes, who was 53, beganstanding alone on his block at night.

Soon his neighbors joined him andthe muggings stopped. Since thathumble beginning, 1,022 crimewatch groups have emerged in thecity. For Hayes, these groups are thekey to building strong communities.

“The common ingredient we foundacross the city is that neighbors don’tknow neighbors anymore,” saidHayes. “We have found that there’s ahunger to do that on the streets. Thatpeople seem to jump at it.” Hayesdescribed the simple act of neighborsintroducing themselves to one anoth-er as a kind of magic. Perceived barriers that sometimes keep peopleapart, such as language, race, religion, and lifestyle, “seem toevaporate very, very quickly.” Aspeople get to know one another,they start to show concern.

As the official cavalcade wound itsway across the city, Hayes addressedthe crowds at every stop, handing outcommunity service awards to crimewatchers in every neighborhood. “Itis the police department’s way of

saying thank you to neighborhoodsand to those who have gone the extramile,” explained Tracy Amalfitano,project director of National Night Outin Boston and assistant director of thecrime watch unit.

On Dorchester Avenue, Hayes gaveTheresa O’Neil an award for startinga crime watch group after she noticeddrug dealing and car vandalism inher neighborhood near CarneyHospital. She reached out to herneighbors, to police, to other crimewatch groups, and to the hospitaladministration—all of whom began towork together to solve the problem.“It was a decay that was starting out-side her front steps, that went acrossthe street, down through the park intoother neighborhoods,” Hayes said ashe cited O’Neil’s work. “Think small.If we can stop a little bit of an infec-tion, it’s not going to spread to a serious illness in the neighborhood.”

Mayor Thomas M. Menino calledcrime watches “one of the most effective tools we have in fightingcrime,” and said that National NightOut was an important crime aware-ness tool—especially today whencrime rates are dropping.

For the ninth consecutive year thecrime rate has dropped in Boston,with the largest decrease in homi-cides, which are at their lowest levelsince 1961. For the past 5 yearsBoston has outpaced cities nation-wide in serious crime reduction, andis now ranked as the 12th safest largecity in the country.

“[National Night Out] puts awarenessof crime in front of people again,”Menino said. “Because we are goingthrough good times, it’s not time to

Dressing up for National Night Out in the Roslindale neighborhood in Boston.

National Night Out

15

get complacent. It’s time to redoubleour efforts and make sure we don’t goback to where we were 10 years ago.”

In the early 1990s, before neighbor-hood policing was firmly establishedin Boston, the police presence on tinyNonquit Street in Dorchester wasminimal and residents didn’t knoweach other’s names. All that changedwhen one African-American woman,Magnolia Munroe-Gordon, and onewhite woman, Ruth Clarke, togetherplanted a community garden in avacant lot.

Munroe-Gordon lived next door to thevacant lot, which in those days wasused as a garbage heap by neighborswho hurled everything from old tiresto car parts to trash bags over thefence. But what really got to Munroe-Gordon was the ragweed, which grewup to 10 feet tall, blew into her window, and made her and her sonsick with allergies. She couldn’t getthe city to mow it down, so she decid-ed to organize her neighbors to planta community garden. Clarke threwher support behind Munroe-Gordonand promised to help.

“I finally found someone who shareda dream,” said Clarke. As the gardenevolved the neighbors got to knoweach other and began to discuss otherproblems in the neighborhood.

“There [were] drug dealing [and] loudparties, and there were gang hang-outs,” Munroe-Gordon recalled. “Itwas pretty bad. We were under siege. . . . The loud parties went from10 p.m. to 3 a.m. We would eventual-ly call the police department, butwe’d get very little response.” Finally,Clarke wrote a letter to the superin-tendent of police and soon afterward

officers started to make regular visitsto Nonquit Street.

“We started with flowers,” recalledAime Owens, a resident for 13 years.“Then we started with telephone linesto each other when we saw thingsgoing on in the street. [Today,] we allknow each other. We know whosechildren [are whose].”

Things have improved so much onNonquit Street that 2 years ago it waschosen as an official National NightOut site, visited by the cavalcade.This year the neighborhood enjoyed aquieter, more intimate celebration, farfrom the whirring lights of the policecars and the speechmaking of offi-cials. As the setting sun turned brickbuildings a pale orange, neighborsgathered around long tables adornedwith colored crepe paper, set understreet lamps, to share an abundanthomemade meal.

Children biked up and down NonquitStreet; one little boy backed intoOfficer Edward Hairston’s policebike, knocking it over. Hairston justlaughed and pinned a plastic “JuniorPolice” badge on the child’s shirt. OnNational Night Out Hairston didn’thave enough of these popular badgesto pass around. He said NationalNight Out “unifies the community”and fosters communication withadults who were involved with thepolice in the past. “You get togetheron a one-on-one basis and privatelytalk about an incident that may haveoccurred a year or two ago. . . .This is a good way to make things alot smoother.”

From tiny neighborhood picnics toparties for 1,000 people, NationalNight Out in Boston has grown so

much that as soon as the year’s celebration concludes, planning for the next one begins.

The neighborhood crime watch unitplans the largest citywide events.Captains in each police district facilitate the planning of the maincelebration in their particular districtand choose the site that the policecavalcade visits in their district. OnJune 1 of every year the crime watchunit sends a letter to every crimewatch group in the city, offering technical assistance and asking thegroups to return a card detailing theirplans. This information is then sent to the captains of each district, whosend police officers to every neighborhood celebration.

The celebration kicks off days beforethe actual National Night Out with anaward ceremony for a children’sposter contest. The 26 winning artistsreceived U.S. savings bonds for asmuch as $200 and art supplies. Theentire event, which includes a buffetmeal for winners and their families,costs just under $7,000 and is fundedby donations from eight Boston busi-nesses and institutions. This year,organizers of the poster contest werepleased by the lack of violencedepicted in the posters.

From tiny neighborhood picnics to

parties for 1,000 people, National

Night Out in Boston has grown

so much that as soon as the

year’s celebration concludes,

planning for the next one begins.

16


Another major Boston event is theCrime Watch Awards ceremony. Tencrime watch groups and one individ-ual, the crime watcher of the year,are feted with food and awards handed out by the mayor and policecommissioner. In addition, the citysponsors a mini-cavalcade on July31 through three neighborhoods and awards are presented to crime-fighting residents.

Among the award winners was theGroom/Humphreys NeighborhoodCrime Watch, which has grown dra-matically since its founding 7months before National Night Out.The group, which includes CapeVerdean, Puerto Rican, Cuban,Colombian, and African-Americanmembers, has worked closely withthe police to address safety issuesincluding inadequate street lighting,abandoned buildings, and intimida-tion by gangs.

At one point during the awards cere-mony, Henry Fernando Bossa, aleader of the group, got everyone ontheir feet to applaud the police offi-cers in the room. Since his groupbegan meeting, relations with thepolice have improved considerably, hesaid, with at least five police officersattending every crime watch meeting.Police quickly respond to the group’srequests for help and information, hesaid, and put their lives on the line.“They do a heroic job.”

Lodi, CaliforniaSusan Thoms usually is tap dancingher way across a floor on Tuesdaynights, but she let her class knowshe’d have to miss the lesson onAugust 3 because it was NationalNight Out and her neighborhood was

having a block party. No problem,they decided: We’ll hold class at theparty.

So around 8 p.m., nine tap dancersand their leader, Susan Sixkiller,piled out of cars into the street for aspecial performance in front of nearlythree dozen neighbors gathered onHoward Street. It was the sixth yearthat Howard Street neighbors werecelebrating the recovery of theirneighborhood.

As the dancers tapped out “Put onYour Dancin’ Shoes,” Alice Bakerrecalled the problems that ledHoward Street toform a neighbor-hood watchgroup in 1994.“We were havingtrouble withdrug dealing” atthe house next toblock captainCindy Jorey’s,she remem-bered. “Wewould see youngteenagers ridingtheir bikes withbackpacks, theywould go in theside door, andwithin minutes they would come outand leave,” she said. Her husband,Mayland, recalled, “We got pictures oflittle school children going in and outof there. I’d go out in the morning toget the newspaper, and at 5:30 someguy’s sitting on a bicycle across thestreet looking at me.”

So the Bakers, Jorey, and others onthe block started taking down licenseplate numbers, pressuring the dealersand the landlord, and working with

police. “At one point we ran a bikerout of our neighborhood,” Alice Bakersaid. They took up a collection to formthe watch group and made plans fortheir first National Night Out celebra-tion. Within a month, the landlordfinally evicted the dealers, and anoth-er house next door where troubleseemed to be brewing also was vacated.

Ever since, the Howard Street watchgroup has been one of Lodi’s mostactive, celebrating what Alice Baker calls a “very, very quiet neighborhood.”

Groups like this are at the heart ofNeighborhood Watch and NationalNight Out for Mary Fuhs, the commu-nity services officer who organizesthese activities in Lodi each year. “Iwant people to understand they havepower within themselves to make pos-itive changes,” Fuhs said. Sometimesthat may mean something as simpleas talking with a neighbor. “All weare doing,” she said, “is giving peoplean opportunity to do something theywant to do and are afraid to do in our

Members of the Steppin’ Out tap dancers entertain the Howard Street blockparty in Lodi.

Jerr

y Ty

son

National Night Out

17

society. They just need an excuse andwe’re giving them an excuse.”

Lodi, a city of 58,000, is located incentral Joaquin County, the heart ofCalifornia wine country. A sign at theedge of town welcomes visitors to the“U.S. Capital of Wine Grapes” and itis followed by vineyards and adver-tisements for wine tastings along theroad long before the city comes intofull view. But Lodi also has a sturdymanufacturing base, a large numberof dairies, and a significant commuterpopulation (about a third of its work-ing population commutes to nearbyStockton and to as far away asSacramento).

There are only about 350 residentialburglaries and 350 car thefts a yearin Lodi—numbers that have heldsteady despite an increasing population—but the city is one of thecountry’s largest methamphetaminesuppliers, with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of mostly “Mom and Pop”labs scattered throughout the area.Still, the labs do not appear to haveengendered a substantial drug cul-ture. The number of drug-relatedcrimes is small; one city detectivesaid he has made only one arrest inhis career for cocaine and has neverseen crack.

Lodi has an extraordinary spirit ofvolunteerism. Despite its small size,the city has 180 active neighborhoodwatch groups, and this year organized126 block parties—some of themlarge enough to accommodate morethan one group. There are dozens of stories about their accomplish-ments—a car burglar thwarted in oneneighborhood, a thief identified andarrested in another—but the storyLodians tell most often is about a

12-year-old girl who was kidnapedfrom her home 5 years ago. Morethan 400 people turned up at thepolice station offering to help. Theyimmediately distributed 20,000fliers, and the girl was recoveredwithin 21 hours.

Then there are the Volunteer Part-ners. Nearly 100 seniors over age 50work regular hours with the policedepartment, checking cars and hous-es while residents are on vacation,delivering evidence to Sacramento,or driving police cars to a garage formaintenance. Two disabled seniorsdo computer work in the office, andothers handle traffic control or staffthe found property department. OnNational Night Out, it was thePartners who delivered pizzas to thewinners of a radio call-in contest.The Volunteer Partners program is so popular that younger people oftenshow up at police headquarters

offering to volunteer and have to betold they’re not yet old enough.

All of this is the foundation forNational Night Out, said police Chief Larry Hansen, who started acommunity-policing program 5 yearsago, a year after taking over thedepartment. “The whole concept ofencouraging neighbors to get to knoweach other again is like taking a stepback in time,” he said. “Neighborsare being neighbors again.”

Each year, Fuhs puts National NightOut together with $250 from the city,a grant of a few thousand dollars fromcentral California law enforcementagencies, and contributions fromlocal businesses and hundreds of volunteers. She uses McGruff thecrime-fighting dog, seat belt dum-mies, an electric display board topromote electrical safety with chil-dren—anything available to get acrime prevention message across.

Banners and posters are hung allover the city, and block captains postword of the upcoming event withdoor-hangers. This year, Fuhs sentout a planning newsletter early in thesummer. “The point of National NightOut,” she reminded her circulation of3,900, “is to spend the evening out-side talking with neighbors. . . .Talking, communicating, is whatNNO is all about . . . [to] create asense of ownership and responsibilityfor the safety and welfare of thosewho live in the neighborhood.”

On National Night Out, 11 policeofficers, the police chief and com-mander, the mayor, and several citycouncil members gathered in thepolice briefing room at 5:30 p.m. toget their orders for the evening. Manyofficers had volunteered for the duty.

Proud winners of the chalk-drawing contest on the 400 block of East Oak Street in Lodi.

Jerr

y Ty

son

18


Fuhs handed out the gifts they would distribute: candy for the kids,engraving pens so adults could marktheir property, and Johnson Waxproducts and coupons. Each personreceived an itinerary of parties, andthe officers carried “trading cards”with their signed pictures and a littleinformation about them on the back.

This year, for the first time, a group ofbusinesses—the local newspaper, abank, a real estate agency, and thepublic library—started things off witha late afternoon National Night Outparty in the central business district.Organized by Sandy Smith, a refer-ence librarian, she noted that busi-nesses have security concerns, too,and thus reason to participate. What’smore important, among the businesspeople, “We just personally havethese ties now.”

At 7 p.m., Fuhs went on the highwayadvisory radio channel and hosted asafety call-in contest. Callers fromblock parties who answered traffic,safety, and crime prevention ques-tions won a free pizza from one of thelocal pizza chains, delivered by aVolunteer Partner.

Fuhs treasures the stories of com-mitment to National Night Out: theblock captain who had a heartattack but still managed to organizehis party; the children who havemoved away from Lodi but return onNational Night Out for a reunion;and the woman who decided to quitas block captain and introduced hersuccessor at the party. Then therewas the time an old boyfriend andgirlfriend lived on the same streetand didn’t know it until they saweach other at a National Night Out celebration.

Eleven neighborhood watch groupshave stories that are longer; theyhave been meeting for 10 years ormore. Flo Celley organized her groupon Tahoe Drive and Modock Way for10 years, winning a plaque posted tothe telephone pole outside her housefor her achievements. More than 30people from two blocks attended thenight’s events, enjoying an extraordi-nary potluck dinner. This year wasCelley’s swan song, and she was anx-ious for everyone to get connectedwith Deborah Cameron, a youngerwoman who was taking on the job.Cameron has personal experience

with the power of neighborliness;when her home burned down earlierthis year, she turned to the people inher block for help. “We’re not nosy,but we’re real concerned about eachother,” she said.

For Det. Brian Scott, traveling fromparty to party and chatting with peo-ple was very much business asusual. “I do this anyway,” saidScott, who grew up in Lodi, movedaway, and then moved back in1979. “It lets people know we’rejust regular people, too, but with adifferent job. This makes it easierfor them to approach you.”

Across town on the 400 block of EastOak Street, 21 adults, 14 teenagers,and 35 children were eating all types of foods. The block includesHispanic, East Indian, German, Irish,Japanese, and Chinese residents, andalmost everyone brought a dish toshare. The children busied them-selves with a chalk-drawing contest,while some adults served as judgesand others discussed concerns about possible drug dealing in a house onthe next block.

Block captain Joanne Mounce hasbeen working for 7 years to cleanthings up. The house she moved intoin 1994 had been the home of a drugdealer. Across the street, anotherdealer was running a profitable business. Through the neighborhoodwatch group she helped establish,residents pressured the landlord andhe eventually sold the house.Recently, a young family moved in.

“When people move in we visit themand give them neighborhood watchmaterial, and bring them into what weconsider a family,” Mounce said.

Lodi Police Chief Larry Hansen during his tour of neighborhood watch groups.

Jerr

y Ty

son

National Night Out

19

Notes1. Sampson, R.J., S.W. Raudenbush,and F. Earls, “Neighborhoods andViolent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy.” Science277(August 15, 1997): 918–924. NCJ 173119.

2. Personal interview, September1999.

For More Information For more information about NationalNight Out, contact:

National Association of Town Watch, Inc.

P.O. Box 303Wynnewood, PA 19096610–649–7055World Wide Web:http://www.nationaltownwatch.org/

nno.html

For more information about theBureau of Justice AssistancePractitioner Perspectives Series,contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance810 Seventh Street NW.Washington, DC 20531202–514–5947

To order publications or to find outmore about BJA programs, contact:

Bureau of Justice AssistanceClearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000Rockville, MD 20849–60001–800–688–4252E-mail: [email protected] Wide Web: http://www.ncjrs.org

Clearinghouse staff are availableMonday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to7:30 p.m. eastern time. Ask to beplaced on the BJA mailing list.

Police Commander Jerry Adams wasone of the block’s visitors that night,giving most residents “the only directcontact most people have with cityofficials,” Mounce noted.

“I think this makes a huge differ-ence,” said Adams. “The more [we] open lines of communication, the more we can do our job.Neighborhood Watch is one of the truest forms of community polic-ing. . . . You have [to have] successfulNeighborhood Watch programs beforeNational Night Out works.”

By the end of the evening, with ahandful of parties still carrying on,

Fuhs was tired but satisfied. “I lovethe program,” she said. “I believe init because the people embrace it.”

ConclusionIn each of these cities and in thou-sands of others across the country,National Night Out has become anoccasion symbolizing what can happen when citizens take respon-sibility for the well-being of theirneighborhoods instead of lookingentirely to outside authorities toenforce public safety. It creates sit-uations for citizens and police toforge partnerships that help protectcommunities.

But the benefits go well beyond theseformal relationships. At a time whenmodern pressures tend to keepneighbors isolated from one another,National Night Out gives them anopportunity to reconnect, to feel partof a community to which they cancontribute and from which they candraw support and assistance. Theseconnections generate a sense of ownership and responsibility withinneighborhoods, critical elements ina strong crime prevention program.

NCJ 180775

The Bureau of Justice Assistanceis a component of the Office ofJustice Programs, which alsoincludes the Bureau of JusticeStatistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of JuvenileJustice and DelinquencyPrevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

national night out: building police and community ... · national night out 3 the work of...

Documents