The Battle for the Streets : ‘National Night Out’ Lights to Make Communities Shine

Porch lights throughout the South Bay will shine Tuesday night as Neighborhood Watch groups participate in “National Night Out,” an annual program designed to fight crime while helping neighbors get to know one another.

Activities vary from city to city, but everyone is asked to participate by turning on front lights from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. to demonstrate unity against crime, said Matt Peskin, projects coordinator for the National Assn. of Town Watch, the nonprofit group that sponsors the event.

Peskin said more than 23 million people in 8,300 communities throughout the 50 states, some U.S. territories and even some Canadian cities are expected to participate. Local events are coordinated by Neighborhood Watch groups, city governments and individual police departments.

“Some towns just turn on their porch lights; others have block parties and cookouts and parades,” Peskin said. “It’s designed to turn the clock back to the 1940s and 1950s, to a time when people knew neighbors and routinely looked out for each other and everybody knew the cop on the beat.”

In Palos Verdes Estates, police patrol units will drop by several neighborhoods staging block parties to introduce themselves and hand out “goody bags” with earthquake preparedness materials, crime prevention pamphlets and a light bulb.

In Lawndale, Neighborhood Watch participants will gather for a potluck awards dinner to honor one outstanding block captain and one outstanding sheriff’s deputy.

South Bay residents who want more information about the event can call their local police department, Neighborhood Watch sponsor or the National Assn. of Town Watch. The telephone number for the national group is (215) 649-7055.