Hundreds of residents gathered in New Cassel Tuesday night for National Night Out, an annual event where police and the communities they serve come together to form partnerships in an effort to prevent crime.

The event, now in its 32nd year, kicked off with a parade down Prospect Avenue.

National Night Out took on new meaning after recent widely publicized police-involved shootings and the attacks on police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

Residents and police officers told News 12 Long Island that communication is the key to relations in the community.

Children in New Cassel also presented handmade thank you cards for police officers as a show of support.