Neighborly love helps fight crime

Residents in almost every area of the parish gathered with their neighbors on Aug. 5 in order to celebrate the fight against crime.

Night Out Against Crime has continued to grow in our parish over the years from just a few parties to more than 20 this year. The parties give neighbors a fun way to get to know each other, which in turn makes those neighbors more likely to look out for one another. Officers also make an appearance at the parties so that they have a better idea of who they are protecting.

The event is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by Sheriff Greg Champagne and the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. It was first introduced in early 1984 and took place on the first Tuesday of August, with 23 states and 2.5 million Americans participating. With such a great reaction, the program continued to thrive, eventually attracting people from all 50 states.

The goals of the program are to heighten crime and drug awareness, generate support and participation in local anti-crime efforts, strengthen neighborhood spirit and relations between police and the community, and send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

Now, it is more important than ever to send that message. Neighbors have to band together and help each other at all times.

In fact, that’s what neighbors are for.