In support of its commitment to keeping Cary one of the safest communities in the nation, the Town of Cary’s Police Department is inviting citizens to visit their district’s celebration of National Night Out on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m.; events will be held at the following locations: District 1 - Cary Police Department, 120 Wilkinson Ave.; District 2 - Harris Teeter Parking Lot, 2741 N.C. Highway 55; and at District 3 - Crossroads Shopping Center between Best Buy and Toys "R" Us, 237 Crossroads Blvd.  An open house will also be held during the event at the Cary Police Department.  

At each site, citizens can meet their district’s command staff and check out emergency vehicles and other attractions for children and adults. In addition, police officers have planned to visit select neighborhood block parties in each district.  Citizens not sure of their district should visit the GeoPolicing section of the Town’s Web site at http://www.townofcary.org/depts/pddept/geopolicing.htm .

Participants in this year's National Night Out celebration include representatives from the Cary Town Council, Town of Cary Police Department, Citizens Assisting Police (CAP) Team, Town of Cary Fire Department, and Cary Crime Stoppers.  National Night out is an initiative to promote awareness, safety and neighborhood unity.  

“In Cary, we believe that community safety is directly tied to how involved citizens are with helping keep it safe,” said Town of Cary Community Services Officer Brian Austin . “It’s that tremendously successful partnership that helps keep Cary one of the safest and best places to live, work and raise a family in America.”

The three districts are part of Cary’s new GeoPolicing initiative.  Officers that were previously working across 55  square miles are now focused on becoming part of and protecting a single district.  Each district has a command team comprised of a police captain and two lieutenants, who have authority, responsibility, and accountability for deploying personnel and resources based on the needs of their districts.  District commanders are directly involved in identifying emerging issues in their districts and responding effectively to those issues using a proactive policing model that identifies issues, gathers data, involves stakeholders, and implements specific strategies.  Each command team overseas five sergeants, two corporals, two to four school resource officers and 22-25 patrol officers.

According to the National Night Out organization, last year's National Night Out campaign involved citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide.  In all, over 37 million people participated in National Night Out 2008.

In case of inclement weather, only the open house will be held at the Police Department.

For more, visit www.townofcary.org.