Here in Chicago and in dozens of suburbs on Tuesday night, people joined with friends and neighbors to take a stand against crime in their communities.
One of those communities is suburban Bartlett. It is a true community gathering. When they first started celebrating National Night Out in Bartlett they got about 100 people together. Now it's grown to more than 3,000.
"The objective is to make sure that the community comes together and understands crime prevention, we spawn a lot of community watch groups out of the police department getting involved and showing their presence here," said Kevin Wallace, Bartlett mayor.
If you hope to attract a large crowd in Bartlett, it helps to have plenty for the kids to do. That's part of the reason the town wins national awards for this celebration every year.
"I think it's fantabulous to see a community integrate like this, with so much to do. Yes, I think it's awesome," said Shanna Williams, Bartlett Williams.
It also gives police a chance to interact with residents and teach them a little about fighting crime.
"This is an example of why the crime rate is so low here, because of our community interactions," said Kent Williams, Bartlett Police Chief.
It's the 20th year of this celebration in Bartlett, the 30th for National Night Out. They are observing it with different activities in towns and neighborhoods throughout the Chicago area.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy oversaw the festivities in the 7th District on the South Side while Mayor Rahm Emanuel took part in the 10th District.
"Because this is our city, these are our children, this is our future, let's work together to make every night, night out in the city of Chicago," said Mayor Emanuel.
