National Night Out (NNO) and L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence) Renew Partnership

Two Organizations Working to Bridge the Gap Between Police Officers and Communities Enter Second Year of Partnership

WYNNEWOOD, Pa. & ALLENTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Night Out (NNO), an annual community-building campaign that brings the police and neighbors together under positive circumstances, and L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence), a nationwide nonprofit that works with communities to help students understand the dangers of drugs and violence, announced that they have renewed their partnership for a second year. In their collaboration to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and communities, NNO and L.E.A.D. will include one another’s logos on their materials, and NNO will distribute L.E.A.D.’s literature to organizations that host NNO events.

On the first Tuesday in August, millions of neighbors take part in NNO across thousands of communities from all fifty states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide, although Texas and other select areas celebrate on the first Tuesday of October. Neighborhoods host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and several other community events with visits from safety demonstrations and emergency personnel.

“We’re thrilled to renew our partnership with L.E.A.D.,” said Executive Director of the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) and Creator of NNO, Matt Peskin. “We still believe that L.E.A.D. is the best partner for us as the organization’s main goal is to help communities understand that police officers are people they should rely on rather than feel angst towards, and they’ve shown great success in doing so.”

“During our partnership, we’ve made great strides in advancing police-community relationships, and we look forward to making even greater strides in our second year of collaboration with L.E.A.D.,” added Mr. Peskin.

L.E.A.D. provides services “On The Street” and “In The Classroom” as it brings law enforcement and communities closer together. The “In The Classroom” program is taught by more than 5000 trained instructors in 45 states, who are serving more than 500,000 students in 2,500 school systems. L.E.A.D. has a proven-effective, law enforcement-focused anti-drug, anti-violence curriculum for K–12 students in the U.S. The L.E.A.D. curriculum is taught over the course of a 10-week program to educate youth on how they can make smart decisions without the involvement of drugs or violence.

“We share the excitement that Matt has in entering our second year of partnerships,” said Nick DeMauro, CEO of L.E.A.D. “When we first initiated our partnership with them, we thought they were the perfect match given that they also have the goal to improve the bond between law enforcement and communities.”

“We can certainly say that working with them has exceeded our expectations,” added Mr. DeMauro. “Our partnership has tremendously helped us to promote our shared belief in police-community relationships and continue to change the way that people among various communities interact with the police, which is what our mission was coming in.”

About NNO

NNO is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to create safer, more caring neighborhoods. NNO enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. The organization provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances through its community-building events with seminars, activities for youth, exhibits and much more. For more information, visit https://natw.org/.

About L.E.A.D.

L.E.A.D. provides the leadership, resources and management to ensure law enforcement agencies have the means to partner with educators, community leaders, and families. L.E.A.D. succeeds by providing proven and effective programs to deter youth and adults from drug use, drug related crimes, bullying and violence. L.E.A.D. is committed to reinforcing the mutual respect, goodwill and relations between law enforcement and their communities. For more information, visit https://www.leadrugs.org/.