Last year, National Night Out 2011 involved over 37 million people in 15,325 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide. This year, on Tuesday, August 7th, National Night Out is expected to be the largest ever. The event is part of the concept of community policing that police departments have adopted. Yearly they spend a lot of money in order to get people to come to their block parties. I live in a rural area, and my county is having 22 parties county-wide.
Note the same pose used in the NNO artwork above. It doesn't seem to make a difference which way the eagle is looking or how many layers of feathers it has. The Nazis used variations of the same flat image.
The official statement says that National Night Out is designed to:
- Heighten crime prevention awareness;
- Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs;
- Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
- Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
Richmond Hills, part of Savannah, Georgia
Did you know that this program has gained support by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? In 2010, Janet Napolitano said, "Homeland Security begins with hometown security, and our efforts to confront threats in our communities are most effective when they are led by local law enforcement and involve strong collaboration with the communities and citizens they serve." That same year, the DHS ran a campaign in conjunction with National Night Out, and their campaign slogan was "If You See Something, Say Something."[1] It seems that their objective is more about creating fear about our neighbors.
Niki Raapana has written extensively about the Communitarian community policing program in her book 2020: Our Common Destiny and the Anti-Communitarian Manifesto. She explains that Communitarians believe it is in the best interests of the “community at large” to be able to identify every individual in the area. We’re all part of the new Homeland Security plan to make America safer. That’s why the Department of Homeland Security uses Asset-Based Community Development maps [2]. They say it's vital to “security.”
Niki adds that since a communitarian system requires a database of everything, details of our personal assets and abilities will be added to a data base. It's really about the collective effort, which will emphasizes the interdependence of every human being. It's about building inclusive communities to create a collective mindset. We'll all be expected to participate, young and old. It's a social engineering project in the making.
Furthermore, each individual will be analyzed for their potential for crime. This is why community developers “need more data.” They must know where their potential concerns will be.
The National Night Out is a warm-up and get to know your neighbor night. You'll not only be working with him in the future, but you'll be spying on him too.