Rice community sets plans for National Night Out activities Aug. 7

Rice
community sets plans for National Night Out activities Aug.
7
…………………………………………………………………

Rice University
students, faculty and staff will join neighborhoods around
the country for National Night Out, scheduled for Tuesday,
Aug. 7.

The event will
be held on campus at the Ray Courtyard from 7 to 10 p.m.
Neighborhoods throughout Houston will be hosting a variety
of special events, such as block parties, cookouts, parades,
visits from police, flashlight walks, contests, youth activities
and anti-crime rallies.

Campus activities
will include demonstrations, guest speakers Bill Taylor,
chief of the Rice police, and Mark Ditman, director of food
and housing, and a question-and-answer session with police
representatives. Food and refreshments also will be available.

Some of the
demonstrations and information booths will include:

• “fatal
vision” goggles, which show what vision and balance
are like for those under the influence of an intoxicant;
• a booth that will provide crime prevention and Campus
Watch information;
• Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) demonstration video
and information;
• information from Rice’s Women’s Resources
Center.

Brochures from
the Rice University Police Department and from the office
of the Texas attorney general also will be available at
National Night Out. They will cover such topics as identity
theft, car repair, telemarketing fraud, debt collection,
buying a used car, defending yourself against stalking,
mail order sales, protecting senior citizens, dealing with
harassing phone calls and more.

National Night
Out is sponsored on campus by the Rice University Police
Department and the Department of Food and Housing. Nationally,
the crime and drug prevention event, which is in its 18th
year, is organized by the National Association of Town Watch.

Last year’s
event involved more than 9,400 communities from all 50 states
as well as U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military
bases around the world. More than 31 million people are
expected to participate Aug. 7.

The event is
designed to heighten crime- and drug-prevention awareness,
generate support for and participation in local anti-crime
efforts, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police community
partnerships and send a message to criminals letting them
know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

National Project
Coordinator Matt Peskin said, “National Night Out is
the nation’s largest annual crime prevention event.
It is an extraordinary way to build neighborhood unity and
strengthen police and community partnership.”

For more information
on this event contact Officer Ken Jackson, Rice University
Police Department, (713) 348-6000, or the National Association
of Town Watch, (610) 649-7055.