The annual National Night Out festivities once again were well-attended by residents of our community last week. National Night Out was created in 1984 and is held on the first Tuesday in August as a means of increasing awareness about police programs in their local communities.
Although crime rates generally have been down across the country for the past 20 years, National Night Out continues to be a popular event that provides an opportunity for residents both to have fun in a family-friendly environment and to meet members of our police department in order to learn about police activities and programs in our cities and towns.
The latter is especially important these days because of the need for police and community members to have a good relationship, especially for immigrant populations, given that we live in an era of anti-immigrant policies generated from Washington.
Further, in view of the huge opiate problem that so many families, regardless of socioeconomic status, are facing, it literally can be a matter of life or death for citizens to have a strong connection with our police department in order to be aware of the resources available for drug prevention and interdiction for our loved ones should that need ever occur.
The ancient Romans had a saying, “Let the safety of the people be the highest law of the land.” Our police departments work best to carry out that mission when they have the trust of the people they serve and National Night Out helps to achieve that goal.