The neighbors on our cul-de-sac in Clary’s Bright Passage, Hickory Ridge, Columbia, Md. are hosting an ice cream social for National Night Out (NNO) on August 2nd. The block party will be great fun, and serve to strengthen our neighborhood with more connections among neighbors.
Howard County Police will also be participating, a great example of community policing (“to protect and serve”). In light of the recent shootings of Cops in Dallas and Baton Rouge, it’s important we thank our First Responders, that they truly get how grateful we are for their protection.
And we need to do our part to establish partnership. Citizens will feel safer, and it makes it more likely a Cop will hear when he or she has screwed up.
There are over twenty other community-hosted parties being organized throughout Howard County. Click here for the local event near you:
https://www.howardcountymd.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=krlYimQqESM%3d&portalid=0
National Night Out
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign (sponsored by National Association of Town Watch) that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live. 38.3 million neighbors in over 16 thousand communities across the nation participate.
National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. It furthermore provides an opportunity to bring police and neighbors together.
Howard County Police
The Howard County Police Department is joining up with the National Town Watch Association to sponsor the 33rd Annual National Night Out event. Residents are invited to join the thousands of other communities across America in supporting this crime prevention effort by turning on outside lights and spending time at neighborhood events and block parties.
This year’s kick-off party (on August 2nd) will be in Emerson, 8400 Upper Sky Way in Laurel at 6:00 p.m. (A resolution by the Howard County Council recognizing National Night Out efforts will be read on July 29th, at 10:00 a.m. at the George Howard Building, 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, in the Banneker Room.)
https://www.howardcountymd.gov/Departments/Police/Community-Outreach
Community Policing
Community policing creates partnerships between law enforcement agency and other organizations like government agencies, community members, nonprofit service providers, private businesses and the media. The media represent a powerful pattern by which the police can communicate with the community. Community policing recognizes that police cannot solve every public safety problem alone, so interactive partnerships are created. The policing uses the public for developing problem-solving solutions.
The contemporary community policing movement emphasizes changing the role of law enforcement from a static, reactive, incident-driven bureaucracy to a more dynamic, open, quality-oriented partnership with the community. Community policing philosophy emphasizes that police officers work closely with local citizens and community agencies in designing and implementing a variety of crime prevention strategies and problem-solving measures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_policing
National Night Out 2015
by Gretel Kauffman (Christian Science Monitor) – AUGUST 5, 2015
More than 16,000 communities across the country came together on Tuesday night to improve relations between neighborhood residents and law enforcement officers for the 32nd annual National Night Out.
For some communities, such as Baltimore, National Night Out 2015 was particularly timely. The city’s resident-police relations took a turn for the worse in April with the death of Freddie Gray and subsequent rioting, and continued their downward spiral with a summer spike in violent crime. The city’s monthly murder rate in July was the highest it had been in over 40 years, prompting local authorities to enlist the help of federal agents.
“There’s never a time where I think we need to come together more as a community,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said at Tuesday night’s events. “Too many in our community know who the perpetrators are. We know who is perpetrating the violence. We need to speak up. We can’t be silent.”
A NNO National Sponsor
Nextdoor is the private social network for you, your neighbors and your community. It’s the easiest way for you and your neighbors to talk online and make all of your lives better in the real world. And it’s free.
Thousands of neighborhoods are already using Nextdoor to build happier, safer places to call home.
People are using Nextdoor to:
- Quickly get the word out about a break-in
- Organize a Neighborhood Watch Group
- Track down a trustworthy babysitter
- Find out who does the best paint job in town
- Ask for help keeping an eye out for a lost dog
- Find a new home for an outgrown bike
- Finally call that nice man down the street by his first name
Nextdoor’s mission is to use the power of technology to build stronger and safer neighborhoods.
(There are hundreds of private neighborhood Nextdoor websites throughout Howard County. I am the lead for the Clary’s Bright Passage neighborhood site.)
https://nextdoor.com/about_us/
HoCoMDcc 