They could showcase their equipment, play games with kids, all while vendors were selling food and trinkets and various preformances were happening. There would also be vehicles, like firetrucks, service animals, and even showing of police body armor for those who were interested. I interviewed my former instructor, Master Cindy Rulon, regarding National Night Out and how she feels it has influenced Blue Spring’s relationship with its police. She informed me of a few things I was not aware of, one being that Blue Springs is one of the few Metro towns that actually held a NNO (Kansas City definitely did not).She also said that in recent years, NNO in Blue Springs has been on a decline, getting smaller and smaller every year. Last year, she attended
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It seems safe to assume that improved relationships with the police could increase voluntary community involvement with preventing crime. Warren Friedman, author of the 1998 article “Volunteerism and the Decline of Violent Crime” talks of some concept that come about when the communities are actively involved in criem prevention that are still relevant even 18 years after he wrote this article. Friedman claims that having groups of citizens in a community volunteer to look out for crimes that affect them not only “forces police to pay attention”, but also helps decrease the amount of violence (from drug/alcohol use or illegal activity) within the group itself. Members of a volunteer watch group can hold eachother and others accountable (Friedman, 1998). Such social cohesion also encourages citizens to intervene when they witness a crime in order to assist the victim, and to call the police in a timely manner (Friedman, 1998). In a study Friedman discusses from Chicago, the creation of “safety volunteer” watch groups were correlated with a 40% decrease in homicide rates over the next few years (Friedman, 1998). If anything, our ability to be watchful for our neighbors has only increased since 1998. Quite a few homes have surveillance systems and security alarms that watch over everything close to the monitored home. People working together and with law enforcement can reduce all types of crime- so is it so hard to imagine that when people disregard police and the law, crime rates could
It seems safe to assume that improved relationships with the police could increase voluntary community involvement with preventing crime. Warren Friedman, author of the 1998 article “Volunteerism and the Decline of Violent Crime” talks of some concept that come about when the communities are actively involved in criem prevention that are still relevant even 18 years after he wrote this article. Friedman claims that having groups of citizens in a community volunteer to look out for crimes that affect them not only “forces police to pay attention”, but also helps decrease the amount of violence (from drug/alcohol use or illegal activity) within the group itself. Members of a volunteer watch group can hold eachother and others accountable (Friedman, 1998). Such social cohesion also encourages citizens to intervene when they witness a crime in order to assist the victim, and to call the police in a timely manner (Friedman, 1998). In a study Friedman discusses from Chicago, the creation of “safety volunteer” watch groups were correlated with a 40% decrease in homicide rates over the next few years (Friedman, 1998). If anything, our ability to be watchful for our neighbors has only increased since 1998. Quite a few homes have surveillance systems and security alarms that watch over everything close to the monitored home. People working together and with law enforcement can reduce all types of crime- so is it so hard to imagine that when people disregard police and the law, crime rates could