An excuse to be neighborly: Philly officials call for unity on National Night Out – WHYY

Anthony Murphy is the head of Town Watch in Philadelphia. During the press conference, he said instead of shying away from officers, city residents should give police a chance to speak, give them a drink of water. He said the relationship between police and the community is improving every day, and neighbors reaching out to police helps to build community policing.

Rev. Chauncey Harrison, of the Zion Baptist Church in Philadelphia, said this is the first National Night Out event his church at Broad and Venango streets will be hosting.

Its an opportunity for us to come together as a unit, for hope, optimism, for a safer, more vibrant city of Philadelphia, Harrison said.

Commissioner Outlaw said that at a time when the number of police has decreased from decades past, there is a need for police to work more closely with residents, especially in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

You have to use a wide net, Outlaw said. It has to be spearfishing. There are unintended consequences of disparate policing and some communities being over-policed because of that. She says policing has to be done in a strategic and intentional way.

Outlaw said, Oftentimes, residents know who the folks who are doing the graffiti We can bring them home to their parents and it nips crime in the bud.

She added that the police plan to have a presence at hundreds of parties throughout the city that are designed to strengthen the police-community bond, which has been the aim of the night since it began in the Philadelphia region, and has since spread to a nationwide effort.

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An excuse to be neighborly: Philly officials call for unity on National Night Out - WHYY