August 2 2021
by Alex Lloyd Gross
National Night Out is an event that was started in 1984 to bring communities together and foster better community relations between citizens and police. It is a nationwide event and it will happen tomorrow evening. Today, August 2,2021, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw had a brief press conference with National Night Out Founder Matt Perkins.
This event was held at Fairhilll Square Park, which is at 4th Street and Lehigh Avenue. “This is an opportunity to get to know your neighbor, find out who is in your neighborhood and learn who’s kids belong to whom,” Outlaw said. This is a decidedly different time that in 1984. 
Back then, people were more neighborly. In 2021, few people could name more than five families on their block. Not all neighbors get along. When NNO was formed the idea was simply to sit on your front porch for a little bit and observe the neighborhood.
It has evolved into a community event that has some police departments offering cookouts or tours of the police station . With Philadelphia set to surpass homicide rates , something has to be done about crime. The broken windows theory works but Outlaw said you have to “Make sure you are not over policing a neighborhood. No one wants to live in an area filled with graffiti and drug addicts.
Police are overworked. “Perhaps the answer for someone committing a quality of life crime is to bring them home and let their families know what is going on. That could stop it,”Outlaw said.
Check with your local police department or police district station house to see if they are doing something that you could stop by and see what is going on. In Bucks County, we have been notified that Bensalem and Bristol Twps will have an event starting about 6:30 PM