AULANDER – The people of Aulander responded with enthusiasm to their first National Night Out.

In an effort to raise community awareness to crime prevention, the Town of Aulander took part in a National Night Out event on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The event was free to the public at the Aulander Community Building.

&uot;The goal of the National Night Out is to create and raise awareness in the community about crime prevention,&uot; said Jimmy Barmer, Chief of the Aulander Police Department. &uot;The more we are able to get the citizens involved, the safer we can make our communities and our neighborhoods.&uot;

&uot;It takes a community to fight crime because law enforcement can’t do it by themselves,&uot; District Attorney Valerie Asbell said.

&uot;I can assure you that 80 percent of the crime in our community is drug related and I need people to come forward and report crime,&uot; Asbell continued. &uot;I want to keep our community safe and to do this we need everyone’s help.&uot;

Aulander citizens and business owners within the town joined in the national event. An expected 33 million people in 10,000 communities nationwide joined forces on Aug. 2 to promote police-community partnership, crime, drug and violence prevention, promote neighborhood unity and to fingerprint nearly two million children who run a daily risk of abduction.

The event featured free hot dogs, a dunking booth and games for the kids, including a 14-foot slide.

Additionally, information tables featured displays from law enforcement and fire/rescue officials.

&uot;We want to send a message to those thinking about criminal activity in our town that we are organized to fight back against them,&uot; Barmer said.

&uot;It is essential that all citizens of Aulander are aware of the importance of crime prevention programs and the impact their participation can have on reducing crime, drugs and violence in our town,&uot; Barmer concluded.