| National Night Out: Anti-crime march to show solidarity | | Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2012 10:00 pm
| By CHRIS MENEES
Staff Reporter
National Night Out will be marked Tuesday in Union City with an anti-crime march involving police and the community.
The march will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will go from the Union City Police Department at the Municipal Building to the Obion County Courthouse downtown.
“It will be a show of solidarity,” acting Union City Police Chief Perry Barfield said.
National Night Out is a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and supported by communities and police departments nationwide. The Union City Police Department has sponsored activities for many years and has consistently won national honors for the city’s efforts.
The 29th annual National Night Out was scheduled Aug. 7 nationwide, but some communities — including Union City — rescheduled events for the fall in order to avoid hot summer weather. Police had announced back in July that Union City’s observance would be the NNO alternative date of Oct. 2.
Because Tuesday is a school day for local children, the only organized event will be the march at 5:30 p.m. from the police station to the courthouse.
However, local residents are being urged to hold the neighborhood block parties that have been such an important part of National Night Out in past years, according to Barfield.
“We encourage people to do the block parties,” he said today.
National Night Out balloons and T-shirts are available for those organizing block parties and anyone interested in scheduling an event Tuesday evening at their neighborhood or church is asked to call the police department at 885-1515.
Barfield said the number of block parties held last year was down from previous years due to the extremely hot August weather. With the move to October, though, he plans to contact some of those who have hosted block parties in the past and see if they will be hosting events Tuesday night.
National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug 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 letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
For more information, visit the website www.nationalnightout.org.
Staff Reporter Chris Menees may be contacted by email at cmenees@ucmessenger.com. Published in The Messenger 9.27.12 | | | | |
