The St. Charles County Police Department is joining thousands of police departments and communities nationwide Tuesday, Aug. 1 to participate in the 40th Annual National Night Out. The event is a community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.
“The goal is to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live,” says Officer Shawn Birdsong. “We are all so busy that we don’t often talk to our neighbors, much less know what might be suspicious activity around their homes. This night reminds us that it is important to be aware of activity in our neighborhoods – what’s normal, and what’s not – and to question anything suspicious. We want people to know that the police are here to help.”
Birdsong says this year, the St. Charles County Police Department is co-hosting National Night Out events in five neighborhood subdivisions in unincorporated St. Charles County from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The neighborhoods are:
- Park Charles South, lake common grounds
- St. Charles Hills, Fleet Park
- Heritage Landing, 1500 block of Burnside Lane
- Barathaven, 300 block of Trailhead Way
- Whitmoor, at the Country Club
Each subdivision’s homeowners’ association is providing food and entertainment for the individual events. The police department will have K-9s, the department helicopter and SWAT team available, depending on location.
“We hope people in these neighborhoods will join us that night,” Birdsong says, “but we also hope neighborhoods across St. Charles County will take this opportunity to have their own events. Plan a neighborhood picnic, sit around in your lawn chairs, get to know each other, or catch up! Use this opportunity to let others know you care about what goes on in your neighborhood and that you are watching out for each other.”
For more information on the St. Charles County Police Department, or to request an officer at a community event, visit sccmo.org/Police. A Community Outreach Request form is available at sccmo.org/PDOutreachRequest.