Event shows opposition to crime

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

jgoodwin@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Porch lights will come on, community members will come out, and block- watch organizations will try to increase memberships today during the annual National Night Out against crime festivities.

National Night Out is an annual event in which members or various communities step out against crime with block parties, cookouts, parades and the burning of porch lights as a show of support. This is the 27th year the event has taken place on a national level.

The local National Night Out events will begin at 4:30 with a parade at Madison Avenue and Elm Street on the city’s North Side. Festivities will continue immediately after the parade with music, food and public information booths in Wick Park.

Police Chief Jimmy Hughes said the city is a collection of small neighborhoods, and thus, the annual event is critical to curbing crime in those communities.

Hughes said the anti- crime event also is a chance for block-watch organizations to be seen by community members who may want to get involved with a local block watch.

“We want to get as many block watches to participate as possible. That is very important for us,” Hughes said. “We want that community-policing aspect, and that is what National Night Out is all about.”

Jean Bobo-White, president of a block-watch group on the South Side, said the annual event is important and necessary for the visibility of the various block watches in the city, but it does not always translate to increased membership.

“This should draw more people into the block watches, but I have found they go and enjoy that night, but as far as attendance, it just doesn’t draw them in,” she said.

Bobo-White, who soon will be 80, said the most difficult group of people to get involved with the block watch are the younger people. She said she is not sure if younger people are not as concerned as older people in the community or if they are content to leave active participation to the elderly.

Councilman Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd, said he also has noticed the lack of participation in block watches by younger people. He said block-watch exposure through the National Night Out event can be a way to attract them.

Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st, agrees that most block-watch participants are made up of the elderly in the various neighborhoods across the city. Gillam said some block watches plan to distribute pamphlets in an effort to attract younger members.

Gillam said National Night Out and the year-round activities of the block watches is the perfect time for citizens, both young and old, to let criminals know where the community stands.

“People are sick of the crime, drugs and violence, and more people are getting on board,” she said. “This [event] keeps the message going. People want to let criminals know they are sick of it and not standing for it anymore.”

Debra Flora, president of a block watch on the city’s West Side, said block watches can make a show of force with small gestures in the community.

“We want to do something outside of our homes whether it’s talk to a neighbor or more work outside — have a show of force to show this is still a vibrant community,” she said.