COLUMN: Consider attending National Night Out

Submitted photo.

Ellis County Sheriff Johnny Brown.

This coming Tuesday is National Night Out and I want you to consider this your invitation – if you haven’t been invited already – to attend one of the events being held across our county. Your Sheriff’s Office will have Deputies visiting each of the community-wide events – and we’d enjoy seeing you there.

It’s a great way to enjoy a nice evening with your friends and neighbors as well as an opportunity to meet new people in your community along with members of your local law enforcement and your Sheriff’s Office. In most states, it’s celebrated the first Tuesday in August; however, it’s typically held the first Tuesday in October here in Texas in the hopes of avoiding the really hot weather.

National Night Out is a program sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, which is a nonprofit crime prevention organization that formed back in 1981. This year is the 32nd year National Night Out is being held to foster good relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

More than 16,000 communities and about 38 million people attended last year’s National Night Out event – and your Sheriff’s Office is proud to be among the participating agencies again this year. All of the officers and deputies on hand at these events are there to share crime prevention information such as how to set up a neighborhood watch program and tips on preventing burglaries. We’re there to answer questions and we want to hear from you about any concerns you might have.

You can look for your Sheriff’s Office’s personnel at this year’s National Night Out community-wide events in Midlothian, Red Oak, Ovilla, Oak Leaf, Palmer, Italy and Milford. Members of our Explorers Post will be at the events and our canine units will also be making appearances.

Each community event is free to attend and every one of them features fun, family-friendly activities. Please come on out and join us this Tuesday evening at these National Night Out events hosted by your local police departments:

• Midlothian – Mountain Peak Park, 5:30-8 p.m.
• Red Oak – Red Oak PD, 6-9 p.m.
• Ovilla – 105 S. Cockrell Hill Road, 6-8 p.m.
• Oak Leaf – Oak Leaf City Hall, 6 p.m.
• Palmer – Palmer Middle School, 6-9 p.m.
• Italy – Upchurch Field, 6-9 p.m.
• Milford – Milford PD, 6 p.m.

Whether or not you can make one of this year’s events, you should always feel free to contact your local police department or your Sheriff’s Office anytime you’ve got a question or want to report something unusual going on in your neighborhood. You are our extra eyes and ears for what’s going on. If you want to learn more about the programs offered by our Crime Prevention Division Deputies, I encourage you to call us at 972-937-6060 or visit our website at www.elliscountysheriff.com.

We look forward to seeing you Tuesday. As Will Rogers once said, “A stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet.”

Please, everyone, let’s keep our military and service personnel in our thoughts and prayers. We enjoy our rights and freedoms because of their service and safekeeping of our great nation. Y’all have a Blessed Week.

Johnny Brown has served as Sheriff of Ellis County since Jan. 1, 2009, and is a graduate of the National Sheriff’s Institute. He has been in law enforcement for more than 20 years and holds a Master’s Peace Officer’s Certificate with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.