Nat'l Night Out Held

Celebrating the 25th annual National Night Out Against Crime in Astoria Park on Tuesday, August 5 were (l. to r.): Patrol Borough Queens North Commanding Officer Assistant Chief Diane Pizzuti, City Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., chair of the council Public Safety Committee, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, 114th Police Precinct Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Paul Vorbeck and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The 114th Precinct served as host precinct for the festivities. Police precincts across Queens celebrated the 25th annual National Night Out Against Crime Tuesday night. The 114th Police Precinct's annual effort was made more special this year by dint of the fact that Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly named the 114th the host precinct for the borough and visited the 114th's annual event in Astoria Park.

National Night Out, "America's Night Out Against Crime", was introduced by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), a nonprofit, crime prevention organization that works in cooperation with thousands of crime watch groups and law enforcement agencies throughout the country, in 1984. That first year, 400 communities in 23 states and 2.5 million Americans took part nationwide. Subsequently, participation has grown steadily. The 24th Annual National Night Out, which took place last August, involved 35.4 million people in 11,310 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. More than 12,000 communities were expected to take part in National Night Out 2008.

The NATW is a nonprofit, crime prevention organization that works in cooperation with thousands of crime watch groups and law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Since 1981, NATW has been dedicated to the development, growth and maintenance of organized crime and drug prevention programs nationwide. The NATW network has grown to include more than 6,500 crime, drug and violence prevention organizations.

More stories and pictures in next week's issue of the Gazette.