National Night Out Set In Abington Township

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, PA —National Night Out is planned in Abington Township with a pre-night out on Monday.

National Night Out typically falls on the first Tuesday of August.

The township will hold its 24th Pre-Night Out event on Monday night, presented by the Abington Township Police Department, Citizens and Police Together (C.A.P.T.), and the Joint Town Watch Council.

More than 100 participants are expected, including the FBI, local law enforcement, a tactical truck, fire trucks, resources from Montgomery County, various local businesses, and more.

The event is from 5-9 p.m. with a rain date of Tuesday.

It takes place in the Target parking lot in the Abington Town Center on London and Old York roads.

National Night Out began out of the Philadelphia suburbs. In the 1970s, Matt Peskin volunteered for Lower Merion's neighborhood watch, patrolling his neighborhood and often collaborating with local police. He found the collaboration between law enforcement and civilians to be successful and began collaborating with similar groups, establishing the National Association of Town Watch in 1981.

But Peskin decided something more was needed. So three years later, the association celebrated the first National Night Out, which involved 400 communities across 23 states.

The 41st year of the event will involve millions of people from 16,500 communities from all 50 states. Click here for more on National Night Out.

National Night Out is designed to heighten crime prevention awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and; send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

The annual event has spread to 17,000 communities encompassing 38 million people, according to National Night Out's website. Many of the events combine festivities with education about local police initiatives.