National Night Out in Howard County Includes 32 Neighborhood Events

Howard County law enforcement officials will visit 32 community gatherings Tuesday as part of National Night Out, an event designed to encourage neighbors to participate and support crime prevention.

National Night Out in Columbia this year comes six days after violence broke out in the , when police said 17-year-old Christian Hall was stabbed and died as a result of a fight with another teen, Xavier Trevon Bates, 18.

Bates was charged with first- and second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault.

“Every National Night Out is a great opportunity for our neighbors and our community to talk about safety concerns—and how we can all do a better job to ensure each of our communities not [just] are safer, but feel safer,” said County Councilman Calvin Ball.

Police are asking residents Tuesday to turn on outside lights, lock their doors and spend at least one hour in front of their homes—on their porches, balconies, front steps or lawns—or at a neighborhood event to send a message to criminals that communities are banding together to fight crime, according to a Howard County police press release.

National Night Out, as an event to get residents engaged in crime prevention, first was held in 1981 after the organization’s executive director, Matt A. Peskin, noticed that only 5 to 7 percent of residents in a “crime watch community” were participating actively in those programs, according to the national event’s website.

More than 15,500 communities nationally are expected to hold National Night Out events Tuesday.

Columbia has been recognized for its National Night Out events.

Last year, the event in Harper’s Choice earned national recognition from the National Association of Town Watch as a top party in the country.

Howard County police will kick off National Night Out Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Owen Brown at Dasher Green Pool, 6800 Cradlerock Way. The Village of Owen Brown is co-hosting the party, which will include visits from County Executive Ken Ulman, Acting Police Chief Merritt Bender, Fire Chief William Goddard and Sheriff James Fitzgerald.

Police are also partnering with the Village of Harper’s Choice and the Village of Wilde Lake to host parties in the village centers, and police are also organizing an event in Long Reach.

One of the Long Reach events is hosted by the Sierra Woods Apartments, on Airy Brink Lane, the same place police said Hall was stabbed at his mother’s apartment unit during a fight with Bates.

Police have not said what triggered the fight, only that it was not drug or gang-related.

The block party at that location had been planned before the recent outbreak of violence, police said.

Police-sponsored events begin at 6 p.m. with music, refreshments, giveaways and more.

The following is a list of National Night Out events in Howard County:

Dorsey's Search Chase Lions Way block party 7 to 9 p.m.

Elkridge New Colony Club House neighborhood party 6 to 9 p.m.; Arbor Way block party 7 to 9 p.m.

Ellicott City Colonial Drive 1‐mile fun run 7 to 8:15 p.m.; Main Street block party 7 to 10 p.m.; Plum Tree Drive block party 6 to  9 p.m.; Old Stockbridge Drive block party 6 to 9 p.m.

Harper's Choice The Fallriver Row Court block party 4:30 to 9 p.m.

Hickory Ridge Bird Song Pass block party/cookout 5:30 to 8 p.m.; High Beam Court ice cream social 7 to 9 p.m.

Kings Contrivance Green Moon Path BBQ & potluck 6 to 9:30 p.m.; Wood Valley Early April Way block party 7 to 9 p.m.

Laurel Emerson Upper Sky Way ice cream social 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Long Reach Wind Rider Way block party 7 to 9 p.m.; carriage House Lane community picnic 6 to 9 p.m.; Moon Glass Court block party 6 to 9 p.m.; Sierra Woods Apartments Airy Brink Lane block party 6 to 9 p.m.; Tamar Drive block party 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Oakland Mills Babylon Crest potluck/block party 7 to 9 p.m.; Helen Dorsey Way ice cream social 7 to 8:30 p.m.; Big River Run Block party/cookout 5 to 9 p.m.; Woodblock Row/Patchin Court ice cream social 7 to 8:30 p.m.; Dry Well Court ice cream social 7 to 8:30 p.m.; Raccoon Court Block party and cleanup of island 7 to 8 p.m.

Owen Brown Cradlerock Farm Court Block party 6 to 9 p.m.

River Hill Pool party 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Savage River Island Drive block party 7 to 9 p.m.

Town Center Vantage Point Road Park ice cream social 6 to 8 p.m.

Wilde Lake Brook Way Block party 6 to 8 p.m.; Tolling Clock Way Block party 6 to 9:30 p.m.; Twin Rivers Road ice cream social 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Breezewood Drive dessert social 7 to 9 p.m.