By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Aiming to bring the police departments and the communities they serve closer together, the East Windsor and Hightstown Borough police departments are joining their counterparts nationwide to host National Night Out on Aug. 1.
Established in 1984, National Night Out was developed as a crime prevention program that seeks to build a partnership between the police and the community. It was created by the National Association of Town Watch, which is a crime prevention group.
In that vein, the East Windsor and Hightstown Borough police departments have each planned an assortment of activities designed to bring out the residents in their towns to spend some time with police officers – sharing food, music and a good time.
East Windsor Township’s annual National Night Out will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the East Windsor Police Athletic League complex at 30 Airport Road.
The event will feature demonstrations by K-9 drug detection dogs, plus police, fire and rescue displays. Parents can have their child’s car safety seat inspected to ensure it has been properly installed.
For the children, there will be a moon bounce, a rock climbing wall, face painting and refreshments. The DJ’s from New Jersey 101.5 FM radio station will be there, too.
The Hightstown Borough Police Department is having its annual National Night Out event on Aug. 1, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. It will be held at Rocky Brook Park on Bank Street, next to the Hightstown First Aid Squad building.
It, too, will feature fun, food, games, rides and much, much more.
The first National Night Out event in 1984 was celebrated by 400 communities in 23 states.
Last year, National Night Out was celebrated by 16,000 communities in all 50 states, plus U.S. territories.
