More than 40 crime watch groups and neighborhood organizations across Knoxville will be taking part in National Neighbors Night Out tonight with activities ranging from cookouts, picnics and parties to simply turning on the porch lights in support of law enforcement agencies and crime prevention.

The annual event is designed to heighten crime prevention awareness by bringing neighbors together to meet each other and discuss how they can make a difference in their neighborhoods. It is also designed to generate support for local anticrime programs like the ones offered by the Knoxville Police Department.

The KPD, which sponsors a number of crime prevention programs, has been an active participant in National Neighbors Night Out for several years and provides materials to groups taking part in tonight's event.

This is the 25th annual National Neighbors Night Out, an event is sponsored by National Association of Town Watch, and several thousand communities across the United States and Canada are expected to take part in the crime prevention effort.

In Knoxville the various events range from small gatherings of a few people on someone's porch to large parties attended by a couple of hundred residents in some of the city's larger neighborhoods.

The accompanying attachment contains information about the locations and times of the various events.