National Night Out Against Crime is August 2

I’ve been a member of Weems Neighborhood Watch for several years now. Our approach to National Night Out Against Crime – the first Tuesday in August – has always been pretty low key. 

Last year, we met at the Grant Avenue entrance to Byrd Park.  People brought dogs. Others brought children in a red wagon. It was hot, and the mosquitoes were out. There was a baseball game going on. I opened my trunk and served watermelon slices. Our Neighborhood Watch coordinator's children set up a little table and poured lemonade. An ice cream truck drove up and people lined up to buy ice cream and talk to the vendor. 

Then the big excitement of the evening happened. A pair of Manassas City police officers stopped by with their cruiser. One got out and talked to folks. The other sat in the car and let the children, one by one, sit in the front seat and run the lights or move the mirrors and push something that made a loud “whoop-whoop” noise and made us adults jump. 

After a while, we packed up and took off walking in groups. We said “hey” to anyone we met and invited them to join Neighborhood Watch. Every year we get a few more members. We’re up to 105 people now. 

This is how our Neighborhood Watch works. We sign into a closed Google group and communicate throughout the year by group e-mail. The courtesy is to remember to put “Neighborhood Watch” in the subject line. 

We pass around police news releases, report lost or found animals, ask questions, share concerns. That’s about it. 

We’re not vigilantes or Nosy Nellies. We just want to keep each other safe by reporting anything suspicious or out of place to the police. If we don’t feel comfortable doing that, we tell our Neighborhood Watch coordinator, and she does it for us. A couple of times a year, we meet at the police station for training or information sessions. It’s that simple.

On Tuesday, August 2, we’ll meet again at 6 p.m. at the Grant Avenue entrance of Byrd Park. We reserved the ball field and anyone is welcome to play. Will it be adults vs. kids? Men vs. women? Jackson Ave. vs. Fort Drive? Depends on who shows up.

After the game, from 7 to 8 pm, our Neighborhood Watch coordinator arranged for Manassas City police to stop by. There might even be a K9 officer or animal control officer or even a detective doing inkless fingerprinting for kids. Firefighters might stop by. It just depends on who is available. Our Neighborhood Watch coordinator is even providing some food – hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts.

If you’re not in the watch, and plan to come, please bring something to share with others. We’ll be glad to tell you all about Neighborhood Watch.

Here’s a website link for neighborhood safety tips – http://www.ncpc.org/topics/home-and-neighborhood-safety.

For more information pertaining to “National Night Out 2011,” or if you want to start a Neighborhood Watch in your neighborhood, please contact Manassas City Police Sergeant Ed Rivera at 703-257-8038.