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"I learned that if you see a gun, you should tell an adult," she said.

Jessica joined about 400 residents Tuesday at the District 5 police station for food, fun and entertainment.

"The turnout is phenomenal," said Capt. David Morris. "The community support is nothing like I've experienced in my 23 years of working."

But the night was more than just about fun. It was a night where communities and law enforcement came together to discuss strategies to end crime.

"We want to let the community know that they have a responsibility to let us know where the crime is so that police have a better opportunity to effectively make arrests," said Walter Thaxton, chairman of the District 5 Citizens Advisory Council.

National Night Out, sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, is held the first Tuesday of each August. The event promotes crime and drug prevention activities, police-community relations and neighborhood camaraderie as part of the fight for safer streets. More than 34 million people have participated since 1984.

"I think this is a great initiative that's going on nationwide," said Tamara Brown, Jessica's mother. "It really helps promote that by saying we can be the voice, eyes and ears of our community. We can't just rely on police."

Delton Turman, chairman of the Community Service Area 23 Leadership Council, agreed.

"We need to reduce their efforts because we know police can't be everywhere," he said.

CSA 23 is in District 2. This is the first year Upper Marlboro had its National Night Out, Turman said. The event was held in the parking lot of the Villages of Marlborough Shopping Center.

"We shared ideas with other community leaders on how to become a stronger community," Turman said.

District 5 police officers say getting youth involved in positive programs is a start to building that stronger sense of community.

"It's often the youth that fear police the greatest," said Cpl. Rodney Gause. "We have developed youth programs to show them that we are approachable."