The annual “National Night Out Against Crime” celebration for 2013 is scheduled all across America for Tuesday evening, Aug. 6.

National Night Out (NNO) is when residents turn their porch lights on, lock their doors and go out and meet their neighbors in the name of crime prevention.

In 2012, more than 35 million people in thousands of communities across the country participated.

National Night Out is designed to:

· Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police/community partnerships

· Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

· Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness.

· Generate support for and participation in local anti-crime programs.

Statistics prove over and over that neighbors knowing one another and watching out for each other reduces crime.

The Lynnwood Police Department in collaboration with the Lynnwood Target store, Family Center of South Snohomish County, the Lynnwood Fire Department, and other city departments encourages residents to organize a neighborhood event to bring neighbors together on Aug. 6.

By involving several households in each neighborhood, it becomes a real community building effort and everyone shares in the expense and fun of putting on a “block party.” A ‘party’ could be as simple as banana splits in someone’s garage, a pool party w/ hot dogs at a condo or apartments; a front yard pot luck, a dessert potluck, or a full-blown BBQ in a driveway.

If interested in making this happen in your neighborhood, within the city limits of Lynnwood, on Aug. 6, call Shannon Sessions with the Crime Prevention Unit at 425-670-5635 to register your event.