Crime and Drug Prevention Targeted by Worcester’s National Night Out

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Worcester will target crime and drug prevention throughout the city in this year’s National Night Out on Tuesday August 5th from 5pm to sundown in the YMCA Park on Murray Ave.

The event will feature a variety of activities, guest speakers, performances, food, raffles, face painting and more. The night will be capped off with a glow stick parade at sundown.

“What we want to do with National Night Out is to get the word out to criminals that people are not just going to sit back and allow crime and drugs to take over,” said Darlene Santana, Coordinator of Worcester’s National Night Out. “We also want to create a better relationship between our youth and our police, as well as to make sure that people feel comfortable in their neighborhood.”

National Night Out is a national event that occurs every year on the first Tuesday in August. The event – labeled “America’s Night Out Against Crime” – has been around since 1984. This is the 19th year the event has been held in Worcester.

A City Coming Together

Santana believes that this event is a prime example of a city coming together to help prevent neighborhood crime and drug use.

With a variety of donations and community groups coming out to show their support - in addition to guest speakers including Mayor Joseph Petty, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early, City Manager Edward Augustus, and more – the event not only does a great job to increase awareness for crime and drug prevention efforts, but also shows the citizens of Worcester how connected the city is on the issues at hand.

“We are excited about all of the speakers that we have for this year,” said Santana. “Additionally, we have a variety of entertainment options for both children and adults. We also have a socially conscious hip hop group performance which is great because although they are a rap group, they don’t have any condescending language.”

About the Kids

While many adults will be at the event, Santana says that the focus of the event for her is all about the kids, making sure that they are safe and both crime and drug free.

Santana hopes that the event will help children in Worcester to see that they don’t need drugs or crime, and that the Worcester Police should be friends and not foes. Additionally, the sky is the limit; children should never feel like the environment that they live in is what they need to reflect in their own lives.

“For me, its all about seeing people come out and really caring about the community and the children,” said Santana. “We want to do everything we can do to fight back against crime and drugs. Its also great to hear that there are kids that are excited and plan on coming to the event.”

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

Neighborhood search website Neighborhood Scout indexed violent and property crimes data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations to determine the crime rates on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis in Worcester. The slides below show the overall crime index (a score of 100 is best) as well as the per capita crime rates broken down by violent and property crime. The data is sourced from 2011 figures, the most recent year available from the FBI. The online resource is created by Location, Inc., a Worcester-area company that bills itself as a leader of location-based data and risk analysis information.

Crime and Drug Prevention Targeted by Worcester’s National Night Out

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

38. Heard Street

Crime Index: 83 (100 is safest)

37. Main St / Goddard Memorial Dr

Crime Index: 73 (100 is safest)

36. Westchester / Assumption

Crime Index: 70 (100 is safest)

35 (tie). Mill St / Worcester State U

Crime Index: 67 (100 is safest)

35 (tie). Oakland Heights / Massasoit

Crime Index: 67 (100 is safest)

33 (tie). Jamesville / Ludlow

Crime Index: 65 (100 is safest)

33 (tie). Burncoat

Crime Index: 65 (100 is safest)

31. Chadwick Square

Crime Index: 61 (100 is safest)

30. Sunderland

Crime Index: 60 (100 is safest)

29. Webster Square

Crime Index: 59 (100 is safest)

28. Westwood Hills

Crime Index: 57 (100 is safest)

27. North Worcester / Summit

Crime Index: 55 (100 is safest)

26. Pleasant St.

Crime Index: 48 (100 is safest)

25 (tie). Greendale

Crime Index: 47 (100 is safest)

25 (tie). Bloomingdale

Crime Index: 47 (100 is safest)

23. Clark U / Main St

Crime Index: 46 (100 is safest)

22. Tatnuck / West Tatnuck

Crime Index: 45 (100 is safest)

21. Lakeview

Crime Index: 43 (100 is safest)

20. Holy Cross / College St

Crime Index: 39 (100 is safest)

19 (tie). Columbus Park

Crime Index: 37 (100 is safest)

19 (tie). Hamilton

Crime Index: 37 (100 is safest)

17. Brittan Square

Crime Index: 34 (100 is safest)

16. Pinecrest

Crime Index: 33 (100 is safest)

Violent Crimes per 1000 residents: 5.65

15 (tie). City Center

Crime Index: 29 (100 is safest)

Violent Crimes per 1000 residents: 16.8

15 (tie). South Worcester

Crime Index: 29 (100 is safest)

13. Beaver Brook

Crime Index: 28 (100 is safest)

12 (tie). Swan Avenue

Crime Index: 24 (100 is safest)

12 (tie). June Street

Crime Index: 24 (100 is safest)

10 (tie). University Park

Crime Index: 20 (100 is safest)

10 (tie). Quinsigamond Village / College Hill

Crime Index: 20 (100 is safest)

8 (tie). Umass Medical / Lake Ave N

Crime Index: 16 (100 is safest)

8 (tie). Water St / Grafton St

Crime Index: 16 (100 is safest)

6 (tie). Beverly Road

Crime Index: 15 (100 is safest)

6 (tie). WPI / Highland St

Crime Index: 15 (100 is safest)

4. Oak Hill

Crime Index: 13 (100 is safest)

3. Belmont Hill / Shrewsbury St

Crime Index: 8 (100 is safest)

2. Chandler Hill

Crime Index: 6 (100 is safest)

1. Great Brook Valley

Crime Index: 4 (100 is safest)