On Wednesday, August 5th, the Red Hook community out in Brooklyn had an annual event called "Red Hook's Night out against crime." It's an event that is hosted by the 76th precinct out in Brooklyn to raise awareness about crime and various organizations that are available to assist in almost any situation. I ended up going as an intern for the Brooklyn Defenders Services, and my job there was to take pictures of the event. Little did I know how easy of a task that would be.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect at first, but after arriving I became very excited. There were booths with free trinkets for people to take as well as music playing and various street-fair like attractions. Before long, there were children running around with face paint, people dancing, kids loving the pony rides, and a line as long as a block of children waiting to get into the bounce house.
After walking around for a bit, I found a NYPD booth. They were giving out NYPD rubik's cubes, pens, carabiners, and the crowd favorite, McDonald's burgers. I talked with them and mentioned how I was taking pictures for BDS, but I can take some of them if they'd like. I received a jovial, "well then, you can take all the burgers you like!" A family then came over and began thanking an officer for her kindness towards their son, which is something seldom heard throughout social media.
I continued walking around talking to people and taking pictures of everything I could. There was a podium for speakers, and after a while there were various speakers here and there. Some people from the Senate, NYC council, the 76th precinct, and even some organizers of the Red Hook Night Out Against Crime. Almost all of them talked about the new refocusing of NYC police to not only arrest those who illegally own guns, but also who they buy the firearms from. The new goal is to not only stop illegal guns from being in the city, but to stop them from ever illegally entering the city in the first place.
Considering all that has happened recently in terms of gun violence in America, it was really eye-opening to see a community come together to be proactive against crime. Just the night before August 5th, there was gang violence in the same park that the event took place in, leaving 5 people injured with an investigation to find out where the guns came from and who else was involved. While Red Hook is a relatively small community when compared to the entirety of NYC, NYC is still a community that looks out for its own and should definitely take notes from Red Hook. Hopefully gun violence will eventually become a problem of the past, and with events like the Night Out Against Crime, awareness of the issue and possible solutions can come to light.