Community members across Brooklyn had a chance to meet their local police officers during National Night Out, an annual community-building campaign on Aug. 5.
Celebrated on the first Tuesday of August each year since 1985, the event — formally dubbed National Night Out Against Crime — offers residents an opportunity to connect with their precinct officers in a positive, informal setting.
In Park Slope, the 78th Precinct marked the occasion at Grand Army Plaza with free pizza, cotton candy, hot dogs, antique cars, and a climbing wall. The Cops & Kids DJs kept the crowd entertained with their music.
Adam Chawad attended the event for the first time with his niece, her husband, and their children. He learned about National Night Out through his niece’s husband, who is a cop.
“I think it’s a good idea to get people together and to meet the cops in their community. It’s nice and unity is the best,” Chawad said. “I think [the NYPD] should advertise it more so people can know about it, because if it was not for [my family], I wouldn’t know.”
Erika Clark, president of the 78th Precinct Community Council and the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, told Brooklyn Paper that National Night Out plays a crucial role in building community relations and fostering trust in the NYPD.
“Unfortunately, there’s been so much disconnect that oftentimes people won’t call 911 or 311 if there’s an issue,” Clark said. “So something like this, where they get to meet with the police and get to know the officers, helps build that kind of relationship and trust.”
Park Slope residents Katie and John attended the event with their two young children. They found out about it through social media — particularly the Park Slope Parents Facebook page and Instagram.
John, who grew up in a small town, said he enjoyed similar events as a child.
“We had a lot of events like this bringing people together — music and games and treats for people,” John said. “We were just saying how much we actually really like it. We wish there were more of these.”
His wife, Katie, said in today’s “tricky” times, events like National Night Out are especially important.
“More events like this would continue to soften some of the relationships that people have felt on both sides and make everyone feel like we’re all in this together and working together to make our community safe and healthy and a good place for all of us,” Katie said.
Among the politicians who stopped by were Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.
Attorney General James called for a moment of silence for NYPD Detective Didarul Islam, who was killed in a shooting in Midtown Manhattan on July 29.
“It’s really critically important that we recognize that he made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us,” James said, noting the event was about strengthening the bond between the community and the NYPD.
Mamdani emphasized the need for more mental health professionals to support police during mental health crises, allowing officers to focus on their primary duties.
“We think about this crisis of mental health and mental illness here in our city, and the knowledge that if we want our officers to be able to respond to the serious crimes that they signed up to join the department to address, we must stop asking them to respond to nearly every single failure of the social safety net,” Mamdani said. “We must stop making it impossible for them to do their jobs by asking them to do every other job we can think of.”
At a press conference following his speech, Mamdani said he looked forward to working with NYPD rank and file and the unions representing officers. He acknowledged the department’s critical role in public safety and said it was time for a new vision instead of “trotting out the same ideas.”
“The fact that we are already seeing now an exodus of officers from our department — around 200 or so every month, with a leading cause being forced overtime — that vision for our campaign is one that enables officers to focus on serious crimes, and creates a Department of Community Safety that focuses on mental health, on homelessness, on so much that we have cast our officers with, which has made it more difficult for them to respond to the seven major categories of crime,” Mamdani said.
Across the borough in Brownsville, Mayor Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch visited the 73rd Precinct’s National Night Out celebration at Hilltop Playground. There, they thanked officers and community members for their efforts in reducing murders and gun violence in a neighborhood often challenged by crime.
“Good things come from Brownsville,” the mayor said. “The most important city in the world has a kid who came from Brownsville. Every organization has helped make Brownsville safer. Brownsville deserves a safe community.”
Commissioner Tisch told the crowd that shootings were down more than 38% year-to-date in the precinct, according to the most recent NYPD data. Meanwhile, homicides are down nearly 80%, from 14 in 2024 to just three so far this year.
The event allowed local children to have their faces painted and interact with NYPD horses.
Over in South Brooklyn, the 62nd Precinct continued its tradition of hosting a neighborhood block party outside the precinct’s Bath Avenue building. The event brought together residents for an evening of food, music and fun, strengthening community ties and providing a welcoming space for neighbors to connect with their local officers.
Celebrations took place across all of Brooklyn’s precincts, bringing communities together in neighborhoods big and small. Other National Night Out events included the 66th Precinct’s at 5822 16th Ave.; the 67th Precinct’s on Foster Avenue; the 68th Precinct’s at Shore Road Park; and the 69th Precinct’s at Canarsie Park, among others.
