National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime,” is a community-police awareness-raising event held every year on the first Tuesday of August. Sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, it first began in 1982 as the simple act of neighbors turning on their porch lights and sitting in front of their homes. That first event involved some 2.5 million residents across 400 communities in 23 US states. By 2016, the Night involved 38 million residents in 16,000 communities across the country, now including events and activities bringing together police and residents.

The event is designed to raise awareness of police programs in communities. Drug-Free World chapters have become regular participants in National Night Out, and this year was no different.

Such was the case in Seattle, Washington, where DFW provided Truth About Drugs booklets at an event hosted outside the Church of Scientology Seattle, including live music and barbecue served from an antique 1941 Model-T Ford truck. For kids there was a professional balloon twister and a face-painting artist.

Drug-Free World chapters have become regular participants in National Night Out, and this year was no different.

In Los Angeles, DFW supported the LAPD’s National Night Out. They held a booth at the venue with police, locals and pastors visiting. A number of local nonprofits and people running safe houses and rehab facilities took material with them, including several requesting presentations for their associations. The Church of Scientology Los Angeles also hosted its own National Night Out in its parking lot for the community, including a bounce house for the kids, a band playing live music and visits by local police. A DFW bus joined where attendees could board and watch the Real People, Real Stories documentary in the air-conditioned environment.

A Drug-Free World booth at a National Night Out event in Washington, DC.

Up north in Sacramento, Drug-Free World was invited to attend the Robla Community Park’s National Night Out. The event hosted dozens of groups and sponsors, as well as representatives of the Sacramento Police, Sheriff and Fire Departments.

On the other side of the US, in Buffalo, New York, the Drug-Free World team participated in the Buffalo Mayor’s press conference to kick off the city’s National Night Out activities. Understanding the importance of drug education to preventing crime, the Buffalo Director of Citizen Services shared his support of DFW to the officials gathered and DFW materials were provided. It was announced that as part of the city’s National Night Out activities, each block club could receive drug education materials to give out in their area if they wanted. The table was swamped with people taking materials for their block clubs.

And so began a National Night Out for the DFW Buffalo team. They gathered materials, including signage and T-shirts, and provided them to 50 block clubs for their events, 37,410 booklets in all. They then participated in a National Night Out at the Johnnie B. Wiley center, where DFW teamed up with the Police Athletic League to set up a table to provide booklets to attendees. They then went to the Northland Beltline Workforce Training Center for their event, where the DFW representative was invited on stage to share the campaign with everyone. Next was the Black Rock neighborhood event in the old Polish neighborhood where the Erie County District Attorney’s office congratulated them on their work.

And so similar events rolled out across the US from Cincinnati to New York City to Washington, DC, to Florida and more, all aiming to reduce crime through drug education.