In an effort to bring the town closer together, North Bergen continued its annual celebration of National Night Out on Tuesday. In its 28th year, the national event raises crime and drug prevention awareness in each town by encouraging neighbors to socialize with each other and with the police.
North Bergen participated by holding three block parties. The parties included music, an M.C., educational brochures about anticrime programs, and police vehicles from Hudson County and North Bergen.
“The heart of this is the local businesses.” – Mayor Nicholas Sacco
____________
The events drew roughly a thousand people, according to town spokesman Phil Swibinski.
“The heart of this [event] is the local businesses,” said Mayor Nicholas Sacco, referring to the vendors in attendance. “This is a program that has grown.”
Bringing neighborhoods
“The concept started in Louisville, Kentucky,” said North Bergen Police Captain Robert Dowd. “Criminologists theorize that once everyone in the neighborhood knows each other, it enables you to establish natural surveillance.”
He added, “Everyone is so busy, we don’t have the time to always stop and get to know the neighbors the way we should.”
Another goal of the event is to get residents to be more comfortable with their local police officers.
“[The event] helps to maintain a proper rapport between people and police,” said George Marano, a lifelong North Bergen resident and father. “Whenever you have an affair where the people meet the police presence, police can make them aware that that’s what they’re here for.”
“Talking about crime prevention makes you think more about crime prevention.” said Dowd, “I absolutely think it works.”
North Bergen Police Chief William Galvin had similar feelings about the event.
“I think it works,” said Galvin. “What it does is get the people together to get a little more trust in the police department.”
He added, “I think it shows that people have a lot of friends [in their neighborhood].”
For the kids
The event also brought North Bergen children together to learn about crime prevention and become acquainted with their police officers. Mascots such as “McGruff the Crime Dog” met and took pictures with the children as police officers introduced themselves.
“It’s basically a family-oriented type of event,” said Dowd. “It gets the kids introduced to the concept of crime prevention.”
“People are starting to come from different areas,” said Sacco. “I can see that it’s working.”
Stephen LaMarca may be reached at slamarca@hudsonreporter.com.