Irene De La Cruz: Help prevent crime through the efforts of National Night Out
I remember summer nights growing up in Planada and sleeping out in the front lawn of our humble little home due to the hot August nights.
All windows and doors were left open with the screen door locked. A swamp cooler wasn’t enough to cool things down inside the house.
We knew the neighbors, they knew us and that’s the way it was. Our worries were not so much about thieves, but mosquitoes.
With the increase in crime nowadays, the freedom to sleep outside in your front lawn isn’t so inviting. There’s also no such thing as leaving doors and windows open for any overnight cool breezes of air. Residents and law enforcement officials have continued to come together to develop and establish crime prevention efforts that empower neighborhoods to meet the challenge so residents can feel safe in their homes just as I did years ago.
But there is a particular annual activity locally and nationwide that offers residents an opportunity to become more informed.
It’s called “National Night Out” and the events related to this campaign will take place throughout Merced County and the nation on the first Tuesday of August.
National Night Out helps neighbors build stronger ties so that they can tackle residential and community problems together for a safer place to live.
For this one night in August, communities from all over Merced County will celebrate crime prevention by having festivals, block parties and barbecues to demonstrate neighborhoods are on board in supporting the efforts of crime prevention.
In Merced, Applegate Park will be filled with information booths, local police and other law enforcement officials, and kiddie rides will be open for all children at no cost.
Holding a block party is a great way to get to know your neighbors in order to help each other out in a time of need under certain circumstances.
My friend Olga Perez of Planada has been doing that for over 15 years now. Her block party may not be held on the actual night of National Night Out, but it still promotes crime prevention.
At Olga’s block party everyone brings a dish of food, and games are provided for children. There’s usually music playing in the background, and everyone has a great time.
Olga is a caring person and you can tell how much she appreciates her neighbors by the way she plans the block party weeks in advance and with great detail. She makes every effort to ensure that everyone is included, sometimes even including individuals or friends who live outside her neighborhood.
On National Night Out, go out and meet your local police officers and shake the hand of those individuals who risk their lives for us every day.
They are your typical, everyday person or next-door neighbor trying to make a difference in the safety and security of all our lives.
Irene De La Cruz is a resident of Planada and has been involved with a number of community events and projects throughout Merced County. She owns her own business. She attended Merced College and California State University, Sacramento. She can be contacted at dlcirenel@gmail.com.
This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Irene De La Cruz: Help prevent crime through the efforts of National Night Out."