The Santa Monica Police Department will host National Night Out 2026 on Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Santa Monica City Hall, 1685 Main St., offering residents a free evening of community-building activities with law enforcement and city staff.
This year's event, themed "Lights. Camera. Community.," will transform the City Hall campus into an interactive gathering featuring police vehicle displays, children's activities, community resource booths, entertainment, food and giveaways, according to the department.
Attendees will have the chance to meet Santa Monica police officers and staff, view specialized police equipment and programs, and learn about crime prevention and emergency preparedness resources while connecting with organizations that serve the community.
This year's event includes free Habit burgers for the first 1,000 residents, along with ice cream, face painting, photo booths and police vehicle displays. Free parking will be available in the Civic Center Parking Structure.
The event marks the first National Night Out under Chief Darrick Jacob, who was sworn in Jan. 14, becoming the first internal chief to lead the department in more than 40 years.
Santa Monica police have hosted National Night Out since at least 2012, when then-Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks led the event at the Civic Center. In 2016, the department shifted to a decentralized format with four separate park events organized by police beat before later returning to the City Hall and Main Street format.
National Night Out began nationally in August 1984 as a symbolic "lights on" campaign in which neighbors turned on porch lights and sat outside together. The event was founded by Matt Peskin, a community-watch volunteer from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, who had established the nonprofit National Association of Town Watch in 1981.
According to the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance, the inaugural event launched with a $15,000 grant and drew 2.5 million participants across 400 communities in 23 states, including Detroit, Houston, Minneapolis, New York and Philadelphia.
The event's stated goals are crime prevention, stronger police-community relations and neighborhood camaraderie. Over four decades, it has evolved from simple porch vigils into block parties, cookouts, parades, festivals, safety demonstrations and first-responder visits nationwide. Peskin now serves as the National Association of Town Watch's executive director.