Celebrating Safety, Pride with National Night Out

Communities across the United States are all coming together this week to take a stand against crime in America's neighborhoods, including metro Atlanta.

Locally, National Night Out, or America’s Night Out Against Crime, The city, along with neighboring Lilburn, will celebrate the event with a festival, activities for children, and a chance to meet local and county police officers. Other areas will host individual events in various neighborhoods. 

The national event was introduced in 1984 by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), a nonprofit crime prevention organization that works with thousands of crime watch groups and law enforcement agencies.  Last year, more than 37 million people participated, representing more than 15,000 communities across the U.S. 

Coming Together in Snellville
According to Snellville’s Chief of Police Roy Whitehead, the event gives citizens an opportunity to become involved with law enforcement in an effort to build partnerships to prevent crime. More than 100 citizens turned out to Snellville's event last year, and many more are expected this year. 

National Night Out will be celebrated on the Towne Green, in front of City Hall, this year. There will be exhibits, K-9 Unit demonstrations, and plenty of fun activities for the entire family. Approximately 28 vendors have signed up to participate, many with safety and crime prevention programs and equipment. There will also be a large “jump castle” for the children and free pizza.     

National Night Out is nationally sponsored by Target, and, in Snellville, by the Snellville Police Department, the Snellville Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association (SCPAAA) and the Snellville Tourism and Trade department.     

Dave Emanuel, a member of the SCPAAA and City Council candidate, volunteered to participate in the K-9 demonstration. Dressed in a bite suit, one of the highly trained dogs – either Euro, Bart, or Chris – will attack on command.  

“Having a private citizen participate in the canine demonstration is an excellent opportunity to bring increased recognition to a very deserving department — particularly the canine “officers’ and their handlers,” Emanuel said in a press release

In a later interview with Snellville Patch, Emanuel said he learned a lot in the Citizen's Police Academy after going through the program this past year.

"When the National Night Out came up and I heard they were doing a demo, I thought this would be a good way to get the word out," he said.

In the past year, the immediate Snellville area has seen a spate of robberies -- including the high-profile armored car heists across metro Atlanta -- and a rare home invasion and homicide. For the city of Snellville, there have also been several worrisome burglaries in subdivisions this year.

In spite of crime, events like National Night Out help bring people together. In Snellville's case, it showcases a renewed sense of community.

"I think there’s been a silver lining in the dark cloud of this recession," said Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer.  "A lot of people are here now that can’t move away, so they are becoming more invested in the community."

This interest has also helped increase awareness of the Gwinnett County C.O.P.S. program (Community Oriented Police Service), which has seen an increase in requests for neighborhood watch programs.  

"We have 211 active C.O.P.S. programs and 19 going through the process," said Officer Eric Rooks, Gwinnett County’s crime prevention coordinator. "They have seen things happen and want to make a change; the C.O.P.S. program works because folks know each other and care about each other."

Neighboring National Night Outs
In addition to Snellville, Gwinnett County Police will also be at Target in Buford, as well as an apartment complex and Super Target in the area. Also, the city of Lilburn will greet Gwinnett police officers for its National Night Out program.

Across the county, the total number of crimes (property crimes and violent crimes against person) have increased slightly in the last year, but so has the number of people living in Gwinnett County. Still, crimes in neighborhoods means the chance for more communities to be involved in safety.

“Sometimes folks don’t realize they have the same common interest in safety and security and the sense of community as police officers,” Rooks said.  “The National Night Out brings those like-minded individuals together to say that our neighborhood is important, and being crime-free is important.  It’s one night a year that folks can come out and enjoy community, and talk about safety.  It says that we are not going to let crime deter us from being a neighborhood.”  

Lilburn will have a similar celebration as Snellville at Lilburn City Park.  The Harmony Express Barbershop Quartet will be in concert, and Lilburn Police Chief Bruce Hedley will give a demonstration of the “Iron Sky” camera system. The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department, Norcross Police Department, Lawrenceville Police Department and Auburn Police Department will be giving a K-9 demonstration as well.  

Lilburn’s National Night Out coordinator Teresa Czyz believes the event will be fun, educational and informational. This is Lilburn’s second year. 

“The benefit of National Night Out revolves around better communications between neighbors, neighborhoods and local government in regard to crime prevention, safety and security,” Czyz said.  “When you know and care about your neighbors, you begin to care about your neighborhood and the entire community. It doesn't matter whether they live next door or in a different neighborhood, everyone has a stake in binding together to take care of one another and to watch over one another.” 

Safety Smart Lilburn sponsors the event, but a huge group of volunteers consisting of city officials and people in the community also have worked hard to make the event a success. 

In other areas, such as Stone Mountain, Pine Lake, Clarkston and Tucker, there will be block parties and neighborhood-wide festivities to celebrate National Night Out instead of one main event in the city. Local law enforcement will make an appearance and meet with citizens and neighborhood watches to discuss ways to make their communities safer. 

PRISM of Stone Mountain, which works closely with the DeKalb County Police Tucker precinct, is also active in promoting and organizing area National Night Out events and community safety programs.

"National Night Out lets criminals know we are organized and together to keep ourselves safe," said PRISM representative Jan Dunaway.

Contact your community neighborhood watch association or your local police precinct for the nearest National Night Out celebration. For more information, visit the official National Night Out website.