This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

Kennesaw Police, Community Members Celebrate National Night Out

Residents and local authorities come together to promote crime prevention and safety.

Tuesday, members of the and the local community celebrated the 28th annual National Night Out at

The inaugural event was held by the National Association of Town Watch organization in 1984 as a means of promoting awareness and resident participation in local anti-crime efforts and activities.

Last year, approximately 37 million people in the United States and Canada participated in events involving more than 15,000 communities.

Find out what's happening in Kennesawwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The National Night Out is an opportunity for the police and community to come together at one specified location or specified time to show this synonymous activity, the hand-in-hand work of the community and the local jurisdiction of the police department,” said Kennesaw Chief of Police Bill Westenberger.

“A lot of crimes are crimes of opportunity,” said Westenberger. “The vigilance of just understanding what those opportunities are by members of the public would go a long way in reducing criminal activity.”

Find out what's happening in Kennesawwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Westenberger said that theft is the greatest preventable public safety issue facing Kennesaw.

“A lot of it is getting to know your neighbors. Normally, knowing what doesn’t look right in your subdivision,” he said.

“It’s supposed to be a hand-in-hand (effort),” Westenberger said. “And we are an arm of the local community to help protect them.

“Too many times, we’ll hear something where somebody says ‘yesterday, this happened,’ or ‘two hours ago, this thing happened.' We would rather someone see it and say ‘something doesn’t feel right’ and let us come and check it out and see what’s going on. You may just stop a crime or series of crimes from what just starts off as a basic suspicious person call.”

The Swift-Cantrell event included appearances from a number of local authorities, including the Kennesaw Police Department and the Georgia State Defense Force. Attendees had the opportunity to view emergency response vehicles, including ambulances, police cruisers and two medical-evacuation helicopters.

Members of the Kennesaw Police Department also answered questions posed by the local community, and demonstrated a number of police drills and procedures, including a presentation of how a police dog tracks down criminal suspects.

Kennesaw City Manager Steve Kennedy said the event puts the members of the Kennesaw Police Department in “a different light” for residents of the community.

“It gives a good opportunity for the citizens to come out and see the equipment and meet the officers, and see what training and special skills they have,” Kennedy said.

“The city spends a lot of money for public safety,” he continued. “We like for the citizens to be able to come out and see where the money is going and what it is for.”

“Most people are not paying attention to their surroundings," said Officer W.G. MacGregor, a member of the Kennesaw police force for the last eight years. “They’re on the phone, they’re texting, they’re doing other things, thinking about where they’re going instead of where they are.”

“The biggest crimes we have here are property crimes,” MacGregor continued. “We’re fortunate, since most of our serious crimes are domestic related. It’s unfortunate for those involved, but it’s fortunate for the community in the sense that it’s not random acts.”

MacGregor said that the number one preventable crime in Kennesaw involved automotive safety, particularly vehicular break-ins.

“A few years ago, we had 27 cars broken into on one street,” he said. “Not one of them was locked.”

“Being aware of your surroundings is one of the major things residents can do to protect themselves,” MacGregor said. “It is a small town and a very good community, one of the top in the nation (according) to certain magazines, but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security by not locking your doors.”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Kennesaw