"I got this one, and this one, and this one, and this one," said one girl, showing off the cards, having already placed the shiny silver sticker shaped like a police badge on her shirt.

The San Jose police were on hand and on mounts, passing out goodies such as their trading cards, and meeting and talking to community members as part of the National Night Out campaign sponsored by the National Town Watch Association. The national event, which began in 1984 and takes place in more than 10,000 communities on the first Tuesday of August, partners police and communities promoting neighborhood safety and pride, as well as drug and crime prevention. In Almaden, this year's night to leave the front porch light on—as folks are encouraged to do as part of the event—was put on in the Strong Neighborhood Initiative area of the Via Monte/Hoffman neighborhood in conjunction with the San Jose police and the San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood services.

"Anything that we do that is a celebration or a holiday, we also bring in an educational component to that event," said Rosamaria Hernandez, community coordinator for Strong Neighborhoods Initiative.

In the Via Monte/Hoffman neighborhood, many of those events take place at Chris Hotts Park on Almaden Expressway, and for National Night Out, about 250 people came out for a little food, fun and family activity.

Families were lining up for hamburgers and hot dogs cooking on the grill, and other dishes such as rice and beans, Hernandez said, were brought by neighbors. Midway through the evening, as more people showed up than the number that had registered, Hernandez dashed to the store to buy more food.

"There are a lot of children in the neighborhood. It was larger in attendance than what we had last year," Hernandez said. "We saw many families, with both the mom and dad present. Oftentimes we see moms with children and not the dads, but we are seeing more dads with the moms and the kids."

People took advantage of the resource tables set up for the event by groups—such as South Hills Community Church, California Youth Outreach, city of San Jose services such as rental rights referral, and anti-litter and anti-graffiti programs—as kids tried on the heavy protective jackets of firefighters from Station No. 17 or bounced in the jump house.

Larry Brundage of South Hills Community Church, a strong supporter of SNI in the area, was there talking about the programs the church has to offer, and Shanna Nelson and her 5-year-old daughter, Kathryn, stopped by his table to find out a little more. But Kathryn, who was wearing a name tag saying "Kit Kat," was more interested in the police horses looking over Brundage's shoulder.

An enthusiastic Jeremiah McLeod, 9, ignored the horses because he was too busy pestering Gordon Castro of the city's anti-litter and anti-graffiti team to let him pick up litter in the park.

"I've only got one set of gloves left," Castro told Jeremiah and his friend John Rodarte, 9.

"We can share the gloves," said John.

"Yeah, we only need one each," Jeremiah agreed.

Castro was there signing up neighbors such as John and Jeremiah to help keep their neighborhoods clean, free of litter and graffiti. As Jeremiah's mother, Mollie, rounded up her 4-year-old son, Keyshaun, to help the other boys, Castro explained some of the educational and community involvement programs the department has. Families like the McLeods, who make it a regular habit of picking up trash on walks with the dog or in the park, can sign up and receive a reflective vest, bag and pickup stick to nab trash and help keep their streets and sidewalks tidy.

Getting involved in trash pickup and removing graffiti promotes pride in their homes and in their neighborhoods, Hernandez said.

"We're not providing the fish, but teaching them how to fish," she said.