URBANA, Illinois — The University of Illinois Police Department will host National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 2, to bring together law enforcement and community members to promote awareness, safety and unity.
The event will take place between 5-8 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Arboretum, 1800 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana. It is free and open to the public.
Residents throughout Champaign-Urbana and community members of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus are invited to attend. The event will include:
- Free food (while supplies last)
- Family-friendly activities
- Music
- “Touch a truck” with fire, ambulance and police vehicles
- Kids up to the age of 12 are encouraged to bring a bag for a treasure hunt.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign community is joining over 38 million neighbors across 16 thousand communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide to celebrate National Night Out.
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes strong police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live and work.
“Community partnerships are of immense importance when we are talking about preventing crime in our cities,” said University of Illinois Police Chief Alice Cary. “We are inviting people to join us in a collaborative effort for a safer campus and city, and we’re looking forward to those conversations.”
Along with the traditional outside lights and front porch vigils, most communities celebrate National Night Out by hosting block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and other various community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel, exhibits and more.
“This is a night for our nation to stand together and promote awareness, safety, and neighborhood unity,” said National Project Coordinator Matt Peskin. “National Night Out showcases the vital importance of police-community partnerships and citizen involvement. When law enforcement and the community work closely together, some amazing things can happen.”
Anyone with questions about the local event can contact UIPD Director of Community Development and Engagement Dementro Powell, dementro@illinois.edu.