City, Deputies to Host ‘Night Out’

Moorpark and the sheriff’s deputies who patrol the city will host the community’s second annual Neighborhood Night Out on Saturday.

Neighborhood Night Out is a national event focusing on crime prevention awareness, said Sheriff’s Deputy Julie Smith, community policing coordinator.

Fourteen block parties throughout the city are scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m.

Units within the Sheriff’s Department, including DARE officers, a bomb squad, K-9 unit and SWAT team, will visit the parties every 20 minutes.

“Just by getting together and socializing you are getting to know your neighbors, and that is the first step in crime prevention,” Smith said. “Our theme--’Together We Make a Safer Neighborhood’--really says it all. Knowing your neighbors stops burglary.”

Each block party will be different, Smith said, some with barbecues and some with disc jockeys.

“We provide the entertainment,” she said. “The K-9 unit will visit and do a demonstration, . . . and DARE officers will hand out trading cards and stickers. Kids can look at the bomb robot and try on some SWAT gear.”

This year, block parties were asked to sponsor community service projects, Smith said.

One group is making posters for safe houses where children can can go if in trouble; another is collecting canned food for the Food Pantry, and another is sponsoring a bike safety parade for children, she said.

“By getting together and discussing problems the neighborhood has been having, they can work things out without having to go to police,” Smith said.