National Night Out unites cops, community

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It’s been a tradition for more than three decades. On the second Tuesday of August, neighborhoods across the country gather in some common area to share a meal and some warm fellowship. Among them will be the men and women in uniform who protect and serve their communities daily as law enforcement officers.

It’s called National Night Out, an event with roots stretching back to 1984 when a Philadelphia volunteer realized the importance of building partnerships between communities and their local police departments. The celebration has come a long way since neighbors sat out with the porch lights on to show their support. Now millions of people attend cookouts, block parties and festivals where they get to know better those responsible for keeping them safe.

This year, National Night Out takes place Aug. 6, where the New York Police Department’s 50th Precinct will take part in a busy night of food, music and events on West 234th Street between Broadway and Bailey Avenue.

Even in the age of social media and cell phones, nothing takes the place of a face-to-face talk about the unique needs of a community, said Capt. Emilio Melendez. This is his first of these events as the precinct’s commanding officer, and he’s skipping a day of his vacation to be there.

“When we do our National Night Out, we reach out to the community to participate with us and learn what it is that we are doing,” Melendez said.

Although it’s designed to bring police and neighborhoods together, National Night Out isn’t organized by the police department. Instead it’s community volunteers who put it together, inviting officers to “kumbaya together and celebrate who we are,” the captain said.

“And the beauty behind it is that we want the community to know that we are a partner,” Melendez said. “That’s what I want to do at the 50th, to let them know that the police are there for them.”

Typically, many people only see the police if they’ve done something wrong or tragedy has befallen their neighborhood. These informal, partnership-building events let the public see that police officers are people, Melendez said, with empathy and personalities, not just a badge.

“Right now in today’s world — especially in light of what’s happening in New York City — this National Night Out needs to be even that much more special,” Melendez said. “We need to show that we, as police officers, are human. And we need to bring back that dignity and respect on both sides.”

The event also is a perfect opportunity for neighbors to express to police their problems and concerns, the captain said. Every borough, neighborhood and block has unique law enforcement needs.

“But the only way we’re going to know what the problems are is by the community becoming a partner and letting us know what they consider to be the most paramount, the most pressing issue in their specific areas,” Melendez said.

In his previous role as the executive officer of the 46th Precinct, Melendez saw community meetings lead to officers collaborating with local politicians in a number of different projects like providing children backpacks for schools, getting a new playground built, and creating a community park.

“All of that came out of these National Nights Out,” he said.

There are several initiatives Melendez is looking forward to telling neighbors about. The 50th Precinct meets regularly with community members to talk about community policing and law enforcement issues, like at public safety committee meetings held through Community Board 8. The precinct also sponsors an Explorers program that teaches kids about law enforcement, ethics and working within a group.

“We have a lot of single families (in the precinct) and we also have a lot of dual families where the parents are working and they want their children to have a positive outlook in a positive outlet,” Melendez said. “I believe the Explorer program is one of them.”

Events like National Night Out are also key to an evolving method of community policing. The city experienced a great deal of crime during the 1980s and 1990s, Melendez said. Since then, the city has become safer, but while the police’s mission has changed direction, what hasn’t changed is the focus.

“Now we really need to be building the community partnership,” he said. “That’s something that we got away from because we focused for so long on just reducing crime that we minimized that we could get a lot more done with community partnership.”

Involving people has led to regular interactions pinpointing “hotspots” of criminal activity based on what community members tell them.

“I think National Night Out is a way to promote the police campaign so the community can help us,” Melendez said. “A lot of time we’ll point it out and we understand that this is what we want to accomplish with the community. But it has to be a partnership … between two entities with shared values.”

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