It’s a night when neighbors join neighbors in fighting crime – Tuesday was National Night Out. The annual event includes neighborhood block parties and a serious message.

Communities around the country have celebrated the event for 21 years by getting together and having barbecues or picnics and just learning about ways to keep their areas safe.

At an East Austin event, kids splashed around to beat the heat. Some parents wondered why National Night Out is only one day a year.

"There's 365 days a year. For 364 days there's nothing else they can look up to besides what's on the street corners," resident Kevin Owens said.

Over in South Austin, neighbors got to know each other a little better. Many older residents shared their perspective with the younger generation.

"The neighborhood was established after World War II, and we're probably the oldest people on the block, and as young families are buying these houses, the children are playing together and that's how families are really getting really well-acquainted, becoming really good friends,” Zilker Park resident Joy Alexander said.

Alexander said neighbors have grown to know each other from activities like National Night Out and a Neighborhood Watch to look out for one another.

The Austin Housing Authority hosted about a dozen events on Tuesday.

Wenceslao Santiago, with the Austin Housing Authority, said there are simple things neighbors can do to watch out for each other.

“Flicking the switch and turning on their front and back porch light and making the area inviting to those [who] live there and find their keys and be able to access their keyhole when they’re coming in at those dark hours. Another thing to talk about is what is going on in their households, particularly if they have school-age children. And if one of the families is a working family and what their hours would be. That way, the neighbor is aware whether there’s kids at home while the family’s working and they can pretty much police and talk about and take care of each other’s children and just form that bond that will form a relationship [that will prevent] criminal or wrong[-doing] in their homes,” Santiago said.

Another great safety idea for kids who return to an empty home is giving an extra key to a neighbor.

“If they form that relationship, that bond, that trust, I wouldn’t see why they wouldn’t trust that neighbor to have that key. But, I wouldn’t give that key to the neighbor until they formed that close relationship that is giving them that total access to the home,” Santiago said.

The goal is not only to build trust between neighbors, but also between the neighborhoods and law enforcement, Santiago said.