The city of Auburn has cancelled its annual National Night Out scheduled for Aug. 4.

“After much discussion, the city has made the difficult decision to cancel National Night Out for 2020,” according to a city Facebook post on Monday, May 18. “With the uncertainty we are facing regarding what COVID-19 and precaution measures will look like come August, we feel cancellation is the best way to care for our community. Given current guidelines and projections from health experts, we would be unable to execute regular National Night Out events which include large gatherings, shared food and visitations from city staff, while still keeping everyone safe and healthy.”

Auburn participated in its 36th National Night Out last year. The idea of the nationwide program is to sharpen drug prevention and crime awareness, to generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs and police-community partnerships, and build neighborhood camaraderie to make neighborhoods safer and better places to live.

“In the coming weeks and months, city staff will be brainstorming other ways of engaging with our residents in lieu of National Night Out,”according to the city’s post.