Residents of Canton, MI signed the NIOT pledge at this year's National Night Out, August 7, 2018.

On Tuesday, August 7, 2018, area residents of Canton, Michigan, spent a special night out at Heritage Park’s North Pavilion with members of the Canton Police Department, the Canton Public Library, Canton Response to Hate Crimes Coalition (CRHCC) and Canton Leisure Services celebrating this year’s National Night Out, featuring Canton’s Annual ‘Not In Our Town’ community program.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live.

“Each year this community event celebrates the importance of residents and neighborhoods uniting together to take a stand against crime in our community,” stated Canton Community Relations Coordinator Patty Esselink. 

“It is an opportunity for residents to meet and interact with police and fire personnel, as well as strengthen Canton’s neighborhood spirit of camaraderie and the importance of keeping our community safe and tolerant.”

Canton joined forces with neighbors participating across thousands of communities from all 50 states, as well as United States territories, Canada, and military bases worldwide for the 35th Annual “National Night Out,” coordinated by the National Association of Town Watch [1]. According to the NATW website, more than 38 million neighbors across over 16,000 communities were expected to participate in ‘America’s Night Out Against Crime’ this year.

In Canton, participating community groups planned a feel-good evening featuring live music, an interactive Canton Public Safety vehicle display, complimentary refreshments from Kona Ice and Cruisin’ Custom Coneys, and prizes provided by Target, one of this year’s event sponsors. Additional activities included: a craft project provided by Home Depot; a bounce house provided by Awesome Bounce of Michigan, a K-9 demonstration, and more. Participants also designed Kindness Rocks which will help spread goodwill as part of a future community art installation. 

Here are some great photos from the event. Thanks to the organizers for sending us the photos!

Residents of Canton, MI at this year's National Night Out, August 7, 2018

The “Not In Our Town” community program is coordinated by the CRHCC [2]. This group is an award-winning coalition of local law enforcement, leaders, and representatives of community organizations, faith-based organizations, public schools, and the community at large, who are committed to raising awareness of hate crimes, bias incidents, and bullying. The CRHCC offers support [3] to victims of hate/bias/bullying and helps to restore a sense of community when these incidents occur.

Related Links

• Podcast: United Against Hate [4] — When members of white supremacist groups began a campaign to hold rallies in Berkeley and Oakland, California, a group of community leaders came up with a way to make a statement that neo-nazis, their hatred and their ideas were not welcome in the East Bay. 




• NIOT Video Portal [5] — Browse trailers and clips from over 200 videos produced by NIOT, purchase a DVD and screening guide or visit our YouTube channel [6]. 




• Videos by Category [7] — In addition to the original Not In Our Town story, our site features a collection of other videos [8] that might be effective in your community. 




• About NIOT [9] — Learn more about what we do and all the ways you can get involved with the NIOT movement.