Ellicott City National Night Out Brings Neighbors Together Against Crime

It’s not every night that you see McGruff the crime dog showing off his dance moves in the middle of the street.

But Tuesday night was not your average night.

Amid a throng of young people and with the music thumping up and down Main Street, McGruff danced the night away.

McGruff’s Ellicott City appearance was in honor of “National Night Out Against Crime,” a nationwide event in its 28th year that aims to generate participation and support for crime prevention. While nationally the event was sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, locally the Howard County Police Department helped host dozens of parties throughout the county.

In preparation for the night, police worked to strengthen community spirit by encouraging residents to organize neighborhood block parties. According to the department, 32 Howard County communities planned parties, which included ice cream socials, pool parties, potlucks and a fun run.

Police resources, including police dogs, motorcycles, a SWAT vehicle, auxiliary vehicles, explorers, patrol officers and more visited the events, along with elected officials, fire and rescue officers, and sheriff’s department personnel.

“One of the benefits of National Night Out is that police are able to partner with the community to encourage them to get involved with crime prevention, and empower them with knowledge and tools to make their community safer,” said Elizabeth Schroen, a spokesman for the Howard County Police Department. “We want [community members] to learn how to be the best partner for the police.”

Generally speaking, Howard County crime statistics show a drop in violent crime from last year. According to a January department press release, robberies dropped about 16 percent during the first 11 months of 2010, when compared to the same time period in 2009, while the number of rapes dropped approximately 20 percent.

According to the release, aggravated assaults dropped approximately 30 percent, while theft cases were down by approximately 7 percent. However burglaries rose by approximately 13 percent.

However the night itself wasn’t about crime statistics--but about crime prevention.

On Main Street, David Reyes hosted a block party that drew dozens of young people out, many of whom said they saw the night as an excuse to get together, listen to music and party. At the party, a DJ played music while fire and police officials mingled with the crowd.

However a snafu occurred toward the beginning of the evening when police had to stop the sale of alcohol during the event because no liquor license was procured. In addition, at least one neighbor had complained about the party’s noise.

However Reyes did not seemed phased by the issues, and said he decided to host the event as a way to bring the community together.

“The main thing is to be a community, and to have fun together,” Reyes said.

Across town at a more subdued party on Plum Tree Drive, dozens of residents including many children came together to meet with officials while snacking on everything from pasta salad to chips.

Dana Roland, who co-organized the event as a board member for the Plum Tree Apartments, said that each year the party has attracted more people.

“We really wanted to bring the neighbors together,” Roland said.

She added that while her neighborhood is relatively safe, there has been a string of break-ins and theft in the area.

Resident Bill Link took the opportunity to make police department officials aware of what he called a “one-man crime wave” nearby, noting that his neighborhood is being victimized by someone breaking into cars.

“I believe in neighbors living together and working together,” Link said.

The Howard County Police Department is encouraging residents to “like” the department’s Facebook page if they want to continue to receive crime alerts and crime prevention tips throughout the year.

In addition, Schroen notes that if community members want to get involved with a neighborhood watch, to contact Bonita Linkins, (blinkins@howardcounty.md.gov) the department’s community resource worker for the northern district.

According to the National Night Out website, last year's National Night Out campaign involved citizens from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states with more than 37 million people participating.

And it seems that at least some local residents were appreciative of this year's local festivities.

Anita Woody, who participated in the Plum Tree block party, was one.

“[The police officers] are really, really nice. They just really let us know, ‘Hey, we’re here for you,’” Woody said.