Garner National Night Out Slated for August 5th

The Garner Police Department, in association with The National Association of Town Watch (NATW) and Target, announces that the 31st Annual National Night Out (NNO) against crime will be held on Aug. 5. Over 37 million people in more than 16,000 communities across the United States will join forces to promote police-community partnerships, safety, and neighborhood unity. This year the Garner Police Department will once again partner with Target of Garner in hosting an event at the Target store located at White Oak Crossings, from 6:00pm until 8:30pm. Garner Police, Garner Fire and Rescue, Wake County EMS, and Wake Med will all be on hand to talk about the prevention of crime and ways to avoid unintentional injury. Target and other local businesses will be providing food and games for the whole family.

Several Garner neighborhoods are also planning to have their own events. Everyone is encouraged to leave outside lights on, lock their doors, and get together with neighbors to recognize National Night Out. Along with the traditional outside lights and front porch vigils, most cities and towns celebrate National Night Out with a variety of special citywide and neighborhood events such as block parties, cookouts, parades, festivals, visits from local officials and law enforcement, safety fairs, and youth events. National Project Coordinator, Matt Peskin said, “This is a night for America to stand together and promote awareness, safety, and neighborhood unity. National Night Out showcases the vital importance of police-community partnerships and citizen involvement in our fight for a safer nation. On NNO, we invite neighborhoods nationwide to join us and ‘give crime a going away party”.

National Night Out 2014 is expected to be the largest ever. National Night Out, a yearlong community building campaign, is designed to: (1) heighten crime prevention awareness, (2) generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs, (3) strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and (4) send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

If you have any questions about National Night Out or would like to see your community get more involved in events like this, please contact Garner Police Sgt. Chris Adams at 919-773-6072 or [email protected].