Communities around the University participated in Tuesday’s 17th annual National Night Out with block parties and large get-togethers.
Hampton Park, in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood of Minneapolis and Como Park, in the Como neighborhood of St. Paul, played host to food-and-music festivities that involved local fire and police departments.
At least five block parties were scheduled in the St. Anthony Park area, said Carol Madison of the St. Anthony Park Community Council.
Sue McCall of the Como Community Council said the event was planned to help people meet their neighbors and overcome the fear of crime.
“People are out with their neighbors,” she said. “They’re going to think twice about hurting the people they live with if they know them.”
More than 32 million people in 96,000 communities in all 50 states were expected to take part in Tuesday’s celebrations.
National Night Out is a community crime-prevention program of the National Association of Town Watch, a nonprofit organization that focuses on crime and drug prevention in conjunction with the police.

David Anderson covers University communities and welcomes comments at [email protected].