Brownwood Chief of Police Mike Corley announced that the 2012 Brownwood/Brown County National Night Out again won national recognition for participation in the event.

Brownwood Police officer Chandra Means put together a scrapbook to document the event, showing the activities at parties across the community.  Brownwood placed 27th out of 284 such submissions.  Chief Corley stated that he was very happy with the improvement of the Brownwood/Brown County National Night Out’s placing this year as compared to last year.

“Last year there were 311 submissions and 48 awards given out.  We were number 42,” Corley explained.  This year there were 284 submissions and we were 27th, up 15 places from last year.”

Although Corley knew the event was a success, he was looking forward to receiving another award this year.

“I’m really excited about the award.  I was confident going in, through the planning and what we saw the night of the event, that we would win,” said Corley.  “I’m glad to see the event getting better and better each year.”

Corley stated that although the number of parties for the year was down, he felt there was a larger attendance due to many neighborhood parties combining into larger groups.

“There were fewer numbers of parties but I don’t feel that is an accurate accessment, there were more combined parties and one in particular really had good attendance at the Benny Houston Center,” said Corley who stated that this was the first year for a party at that location and that he had challenged organizers to throw a party, and was quite impressed at the turnout.  “It was one of the biggest parties, the parking lot was full of people, they had a DJ, people were dancing and having fun with happy faces everywhere.  They were having a great time and already talking about what they could do better for the event next year.”

The award will be given in a formal presentation in approximately one month.

Corley asked the public to please remember the event was a collaborative effort.  Submissions were judged on several categories including overall campaign, neighborhood participation, law enforcement involvement, media and promotional campaign, special events developed for NNO, the post project report, and a miscellaneous category which covered items such as timeliness of the submission, use of the national theme or slogans for the year, support of national corporate sponsors and utility companies involvement.

“Please remember this was a combined effort between Brownwood PD, Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Early PD, Bangs PD, and the entire Brown County community.  Of course we want to thank the Brownwood Fire Department, and Guardian and Heart of Texas EMS,” Corley stated in an email announcing the award.  “The Chamber of Commerce was a fantastic partner, and we especially thank all of our corporate sponsors, the biggest being the Heart of Texas Crime Stoppers.  The biggest thanks goes out to all those who coordinated, planned, hosted, and attended the NNO parties.  They are the ones that really made our night a success.”

The letter from the National Association of Town Watch stated, “This year’s event involved 37.5 million people in 15,700 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories and military bases worldwide. We extend our congratulations for being selected among the nation’s best!” and went on to say, “Again, we salute you and your community for a job well done!”

Pictured above is Corley visiting with citizens at a block party during this year’s event.