A nationwide effort to reduce crime will involve community cookouts and interaction.

The day is called National Night Out and is held the first Tuesday of August, said Community Relations Coordinator Lt. Theresa Milar with the Picayune Police Department.

To help fight crime, residents can participate by turning on their porch lights, having a cookout and hosting a get together where time is spent outside keeping a watch on the neighborhood, Milar said.

Officers from the department will be touring five communities in an effort to support the program, Milar said. Those communities include the Neal Road Little Goodyear Community, Rose of Sharon North Beech St. area, a house on Sally Drive and the Third St. Weems Chapel and the Pines Apartments Milar said.

“It’s just another way to fight crime and for the communities to pull together,” Milar said.

A total of 40 officers will be on patrol that evening visiting various other communities and giving away small prizes for the children and adults, Milar said.

The 23rd National Night Out is scheduled for 5 p.m. Aug. 1. and will have more than 34 million people expected to participate nation wide, according to a press release from the department.