National Night Out [NNO] - 2005

The big night is coming soon and will be held on Tuesday, August 2nd.

What are things that can be done to make this an event worth doing?

If the current block captains would be agreeable to take on the NNO activities, 
that would be very helpful.  The activities would be such things as 
communicating  to the residents the following ways of making the neighborhood 
a safer place:

1. Alert residents to turn on all their outside lights, front and back, at 
   dusk the evening of August 2nd, and leave the lights on until early the 
   next morning.

2. During that evening it is suggested that residents get out and walk the 
   streets, or ride bicycles and meet as many residents as possible!

3. Become familiar with other resident's vehicles, bicycles and other 
   property on their premises.

4. Get to know your neighbors, how many in their families, who is coming and 
   going, what yard services are used, maid services, construction services, 
   etc.

5. Begin to build a picture of your neighborhood of what belongs and does not 
   belong so that you will be able to quickly identify and report what is out 
   of place.

We need to get back to an earlier time in the way we look at our neighborhoods,
as some of you will recall, if you lived in San Leandro California during the 
war years, anyone walking the streets in your neighborhood was spotted 
immediately by many residents, cars driving down the street, kids on bicycles, 
pretty well anything moving was known up and down the block.  This type of 
observation and being out on the porch or walking had a large effect on 
keeping people out of the neighborhood that did not belong.

It seems the time is here to get back to those was of living and making life 
more secure for all the residents.  

Let us all help each other on this NNO event!  It may be a thing that we do at 
random in the future on a monthly basis ... where all residents turn their 
lights on at dusk and maybe walk the neighborhood a bit ... sort of an ongoing 
activity ... force the bad guys to go somewhere else .. that would be VERY good.

Ray Symons, Southwest Group Protective Services
12 July 2005