Arlington County residents will host neighborhood get-togethers and ice cream socials Tuesday for an opportunity to get to know each other and make their community a safer place.

Between 6:30 and 9 p.m. Tuesday, residents are invited to turn on their porch lights and mingle as part of National Night Out. More than 100 communities in Virginia have registered to participate.

The idea is that if people better get to know each other and local police, then they will be more likely to work together to help keep their neighborhoods safe.

The Arlington County Police Department will have officers attending four events Tuesday:

• Noon to 8 p.m. at Fort Henry Gardens, 2470 S. Lowell St.
• 6 to 8 p.m. at the Barcroft Community House, 800 S. Buchanan St.
• 6 to 9 p.m. at Douglas Park, 1718 S. Quincy St.
• 7 to 9 p.m. at Park Glen Condominiums, 824 S. Arlington Mill Drive

In 2011, Herndon won an award for the quality of the community’s National Night Out program, including organization and planning, participation and results. (See coverage of Herndon’s 2011 National Night Out here.)

This nationwide event began in the 1970s as a way to get people out of their homes and to meet each other with the common purpose of making communities safer by raising crime prevention awareness.

More information on National Night Out is available at www.natw.org/nno.

Patch’s Adam Swart and Joan Dentler contributed to this report.