There was music, food, games – and lots of kids running around just being kids. Call it a party with a purpose.
On Tuesday, Jersey City joined thousands of cities worldwide to celebrate the 28th Annual National Night Out, an initiative that aims to foster a greater sense of community among residents in an effort to help reduce crime.
The city sponsored two community events – one in Pershing Field and another in Audubon Park – in honor of National Night Out.
“The whole thing is to bring back community.” – Antoinette Miller
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‘We need this’
“It brings a closeness to everyone,” said resident Yady Jimenez, who was at the Pershing Field event. “There are people I haven’t seen here in such a long time. I grew up in Jersey City. I was born and raised here. I still live here, in the same area where I grew up…I love Jersey City. This is cool. We need to do more stuff like this.”
For the past four years, Jimenez has attended Jersey City’s National Night Out events with her son. This was the first year her young daughter attended. Such events, she added, are one of the reasons she “can’t leave” Jersey City, even though other members of her family have moved away.
“Seeing all the officers here is great,” Jimenez stated. “My [10-year-old] son sees them and he’s connecting with them. He sees them on a regular basis, but there’s never really any contact or communication…The kids are having a great time. That’s the most important thing. This gives them a good upbringing.”
Throughout the evening at Pershing Field, raffles were held and door prizes were given away to the kids. Parents could also learn about recreational programs to keep kids from being idle and hanging out on the streets after school or over the summer. There was information on the Cub Scouts and the city’s recreational program.
“I didn’t have children before, so I never came before,” said Neha Mallard, who attended her first National Night Out last week. “But my friend used to go to all these events with her kids. Now she’s telling me about them. I think this is a great thing because it brings everybody back in. I’ve seen people out here from grammar school. Now they have kids. I’ve seen some people from high school. I feel like all of Jersey City is here.”
When asked whether the National Night Out effort can help reduce crime, Neha said she believes that it can.
“What happens is, when people come out here, they let go. There’s no fighting here right now,” said Mallard. “But if people were just hanging out [without something to do], I’m sure something would happen.”
One off-duty JCPD officer who attended the event, but who didn’t want to give her name, said the Night Out was important “because it brings everybody together. You get to know different people. Your kids get to interact with different kids.”
Does it help?
“The whole thing is to bring back community, so we can all get together and the kids can come out and see everybody and we can have more community spirit,” said Antoinette Miller, a mother of three children aged 7 months to 5 years. But when asked if she believed such efforts have a meaningful impact on reducing crime, Miller simply said, “No, I don’t think so.”
When asked to explain this sentiment, she added, “The people who come out here aren’t the people who commit crimes. And, as you can see, it’s not that many people out here. When you consider the size of Jersey City, there aren’t a lot of people out here.”
This was the first time Miller personally attended the city’s National Night Out, she said, although her sister and mother have attended in previous years.
Another mother, Hennise Sarmiento, agreed with Miller’s sentiment.
“I think it’s a great idea because it lets people know that there are police offers and others in the community who care about the safety of our kids. But I don’t feel like it really does anything to lower crime, because the streets seem to be worse every day that goes by,” Sarmiento said.
Still, she said she brought her 9-year-old son to the event so that he knew that not every segment of the community is bad.
It’s this segment of the community that the JCPD relies on to help keep crime in check, said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy on Tuesday. Addressing the National Night Out crowd at Pershing Field, Healy added, “The police can’t do it all themselves. They need your help, too.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.