CHICAGO (CBS) — Throughout the city and suburbs and across America, this is the National Night Out.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, for almost 30 years, the National Night Out has been a statement against the crime that plagues so many communities.

“When it started out in the mid-80s, it was kind of like, sit on your porch with neighbors, and now it’s kind of evolved into the block parties, and the cookouts, and the parades, and all the other festivities,” said National Night Out national coordinator Matt Peskin.

In Chicago, police commanders will join residents in a march and rally along King Drive on the South Side.

DuPage County sheriff’s deputies plan to mingle with those they protect in Oakbrook Terrace, Itasca has a free family night at its water park, and Niles will feature a moonwalk, a dunk tank, and a self-defense demonstration.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports