National Night Canceled For Tuesday In Morrisville

MORRISVILLE, PA —National Night Out, planned in the borough on Tuesday night, has been canceled due to inclement weather.

The Morrisville Borough Police Department was expected to hold the event from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Morrisville Borough Hall at 35 Union St.

Residents can meet and greet the borough's new police chief and police officers.

There will also be games and activities, a junior police officer test, live music by the Dana Collins Project, and local community organizations.

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

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.