Mauldin Celebrates 'National Night Out'

Hundreds came out to Mauldin City Hall on Tuesday night to celebrate National Night Out.

The city event, which spotlights neighborliness and community crime awareness, is a popular event held each year in Mauldin and throughout the nation and serves as a major community outreach program for the city's police and fire departments.

In addition to fun, food, and music, and a look at the city police department's new Hum-Vee, police and firefighters were out in great numbers to meet and greet citizens and their children.

The introduction in 1984 of National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime,”  began an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. The National Association of Town Watch's (NATW) National Night Out program culminates annually, on the first Tuesday of August.

NATW’s Executive Director, Matt Peskin introduced National Night Out in 1984. The first National Night Out took place on Tuesday, August 7, 1984. That first year, 2.5 million Americans took part across 400 communities in 23 states.

National Night Out now involves over 37 million people and 15,000 communities from all fifty states, U.S. Territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide.