Stop
the Violence -- Promote Your Community
Every 17 seconds, a violent crime -
murder, rape, robbery or assault - is reported to law
enforcement somewhere in this country.
And fewer than half the violent crimes that take place
actually get reported. Nationally, more
than 5,000 children are victims of violent crime each day. . . Somebody's
child. Maybe a child you love.
People in even the toughest circumstance
have turned the tables on violent crime and created
safer neighborhoods and schools.
You can, too, by protecting yourself and
your children and getting involved in the community.
Violence ruins individual lives, tears
apart the fabric of our communities, and makes the costs of law enforcement and emergency care soar. Many
calls to 911 can be traced back to signs of
trouble, trouble that was allowed to
continue: the rape that could have been prevented by better
street lights, the domestic violence
that could have been deterred by family counseling, a child
brutally bullied who could have been
protected by a concerned parent; a rash of burglaries that
could have been prevented by an active
community watch program.
Creating a community that will not
tolerate violent crime means bringing together vision, energy, confidence and
commitment. You need to reduce your family's risk of becoming crime victims.
In order to go to work, attend school or
church, or get together with friends, with reasonable
safety, you need a neighborhood - not
just a home - that's secure against crime. Your goal must
be to build a strong community in which
kids can be kids and adults can freely participate in
neighborhood activities.
What can you do? Here are specific ways
to strengthen your community and stop the violence.
Some can be done right away. Others take
time. Some don't require any help, while others
require advice or help from others.
Tips
for Kids:
• Settle arguments with words, not fists
or weapons. Don't stand around and form an
audience when others are arguing. A
group makes a good target for violence.
• Learn safe routes for walking in the
neighborhood, and know places to go when seeking
help. Trust your feelings, and when
there's a sense of danger, get away.
• Report any crimes or suspicious
actions to law enforcement officers, school authorities
and parents. Be willing to testify if
needed.
• Never go anywhere with someone you
don't know and trust.
• If someone tries to hurt or abuse you,
say no, get away, and tell a trusted adult.
Remember, violence and abuse are CRIMES,
and are not the victim's fault.
• Don't use alcohol or other drugs, and
stay away from places and people associated with
them.
• Stick with friends who are also
against violence and drugs, and stay away from known
trouble spots.
• Get involved to make your school safer
and better - participating in crime prevention
programs, settling disputes peacefully.
If there's no program, help start one!
• Help younger children learn to avoid
being crime victims. Set a good example, and
volunteer to help with community efforts
to stop crime.
Tips
for Adults:
• Teach children how to reduce their
risk of being victims of violent crime. Insist on
knowing at all times where your kids
are, what they are doing, and who they are with.
• Get involved. Volunteer to help in
community anti-crime and other improvements efforts.
Encourage established groups to become
involved in crime prevention efforts.
• Use common-sense tips to reduce your
risk of becoming a crime victim. Stay in well-
lighted, busy areas; travel with a
friend; walk in a confident, assured way. Avoid known
trouble spots.
• Report crimes and suspicious
activities to law enforcement officers. Agree to testify
when necessary. Stand up for what you
believe in - maintaining a safe community.
• Get to know your neighbors and agree
with them to look out for one another. Get
organized - work with law enforcement
agencies - they'll welcome your interest.
• Find ways to settle arguments without
violence. If you resort to violence to settle
disputes, you will teach your child to
do the same. Be a good role model.
• The vigilant use of common courtesy
helps ease tensions that can otherwise lead to
violence. Teach your children that good
manners ARE important.
• Don't carry a weapon illegally. You
lose, whether you use the weapon, or if it's used on
you.
• Don't support illegal activities, like
buying stolen property or using illegal drugs. This
sends the wrong message to children, and
by definition involves you and your family in
criminal activity.
• Volunteer your home as a reliable
source of help for kids who are scared or need
assistance.
Tips
for Neighbors and Communities:
• Work with public agencies and other
organizations to solve common problems.
• Make sure that all the youth in the
neighborhood have positive ways to spend their spare
time, through organized recreation,
tutoring programs, and volunteer opportunities.
• Set up a Community Watch program,
working with local law enforcement agencies.
Make sure your streets and homes are
well-lighted.
• Build a partnership with law
enforcement, focused on solving ongoing problems, instead
of reacting to crises.
• Take advantage of safety in numbers to
show you're determined to drive out crime and
drugs.
• Clean up the neighborhood! Involve
everyone. Tell criminals that you do care about
where you live. Ask for assistance in
cleaning up the neighborhood.
• Ask local officials to use new ways to
get criminals out of your community. These include
enforcing housing, health, and fire
codes, and putting drug-free clauses in rental leases.
• Support victims and court witnesses.
• Work with schools to establish
drug-free, gun-free zones.
• Develop and share information with
local organizations that can provide other services
that neighbors might need.
Remember that your local police
departments employ trained crime prevention specialists.
Working together with law enforcement,
and combining the citizen's knowledge of the community with the officer's
professional crime prevention skills, enormous progress can be made toward
stamping out crime.
Protect
Your Child From Abduction and/or Abuse
• Every year thousands of children are
kidnapped, by strangers, acquaintances, family
friends, or even by their own parents,
beginning a tragic ordeal of life on the run, abuse,
or worse.
• The following tips may help keep your
child safe from abduction:
• When in public, keep your child in
sight at all times. When your child is away from you,
know who is with the child and where
they are located.
• Teach your child not to wander off, to
keep you in sight at all times, and to avoid lonely
places.
• Establish strict procedures for
picking up your child from school, at a friend's or after a
movie. Don't let your child accept rides
from anyone with whom you haven't made prior
arrangements - even if they say they're
a friend of the family.
• Teach your child never to go anywhere
with anyone who doesn't know a family code
word. Make sure this word is something
that the child is familiar with and is known only
to the family members.
• Teach your child his full name, your
full name, address, and telephone number. Teach
your child how to make local and long
distance phone calls. Even a small child can be
taught to dial 911 for help, or 0 for
operator.
• Tell your child about the abduction
problem in a calm and simple way - as if you were
teaching any other important coping
skill.
• Listen attentively when your child
talks about a man or woman your child met in your
absence.
• Teach your child that it's OK to run
away or scream if someone makes or attempts to
make your child do something the child
doesn't want to do, or that makes the child feel
uncomfortable.
• Take head and shoulder photographs
every six (6) months for children six (6) years and
younger, annually for older children.
Make note of birthmarks and other distinguishing
features.
• As a community function, invite all of
the community children to a community building or
home for a safety program. McGruff, the
national Crime Prevention mascot, may visit if
possible.
Also, arrangements should be made for
making photos of children for parents.
Safety
Tips for Travelers
• Even though trips and vacations are
often opportunities for relaxation, all citizens should
practice good safety habits, even when
on the road.
• Don't answer the door in a hotel or
motel room without verifying who it is. If a person
claims to be an employee, call the front
desk and ask if someone from their staff is
supposed to have access to your room,
and for what purpose. An opened door is an
invitation to enter, whether you tell
the person to come in or not.
• When returning to your hotel or motel
late in the evening, use the main entrance of the
building. Be observant and look around
before entering parking lots.
• Close the door securely whenever you
are in your room, and use all of the locking
devices provided.
• Don't needlessly display guest room
keys in public, or carelessly leave them on
restaurant tables, at the swimming pool,
or in other places where the keys may be easily
stolen.
• Do not draw attention to yourself by
displaying large amounts of cash or expensive
jewelry. Leave a record of the credit
cards that you will be taking with you on your trip.
Be careful not to needlessly display the
cards, or to carelessly leave the cards at a
vendor's desk.
• Don't invite strangers to your room.
• Place all packages and valuables, if
possible, in your vehicle's trunk. Make sure all doors
to your vehicle are locked. At night,
park your vehicle, if possible, under a light, relatively
near your room.
• Place all small valuables in the room
safe, or in the hotel's or motel's safe deposit box.
• Check to see that any sliding glass
doors or windows and any connecting room doors
are locked.
• When out of your room, leave the
television or radio playing low. This makes your room
sound occupied. At night leave your room
lights on, as well as the television or radio
playing.
• If you see any suspicious activity,
promptly report your observations to the management.
Guarding
Against Home Improvement and Repair Fraud
• There are many honest, hard-working
people in the field of home improvement.
Nevertheless, citizens should watch out
for dishonest home repair firms and practices.
• Some tips on how to avoid home
improvement and repair fraud:
• Be suspicious if someone offers to do
an expensive job for an unusually low price. The
old saying, You get what you pay for, is
usually quite true.
• Always get several estimates for every
repair job, and compare prices and terms. Check
to see if there is a charge for
estimates before asking for one.
• Ask your friends, neighbors, and
co-workers for recommendations, or ask the firm for
references, and check them out.
• Before signing any type of contract,
take your time and read the contract very carefully.
After you have read the contract, invite
a friend or relative to read the contract. Make
sure you understand all parts of the
contract. If you feel pressured to sign the contract,
remember there are other firms that
would be delighted to work with you.
• Be wary of high-pressure sales
tactics. When faced with such tactics, heighten your
scrutiny of the contract documents.
Often the time constraints asserted by the
salesperson are relatively minor or even
illusory.
• Pay by check, never by cash. Arrange
to make payments in installments, one-third at the
beginning of the job, one-third when the
work is nearly completed, and one-third after the
work is done.
• When you find a home repair firm you
trust, stick with them and tell a friend! Reward
good business practices.
• Make note of the employees working
with the company and vehicles being driven by the
workers. Occasionally, even the best
firms have difficulties with problem employees. Be
on guard.
Often, a victim does not know he has
been cheated until it's too late. A few fraudulent
individuals make the rest of the
business community, businesses and consumers alike, suffer. If
you don't report fraud, you're only
helping the crooks, and that's just what they want. You should report any type of business-related fraud your
local law enforcement agency to report the crime, and provide as many details
as you can.
The following web sites contain valuable
information on personal, neighborhood and work
safety as well as information on
alcohol, drugs, prescription medication, gangs and many more
topics that effect communities.
National Association of Town Watch: http://www.nationalnightout.org/natw/
National Night Out: http://www.nationalnightout.org/nno/
Center for the Prevention of School
Violence: http://www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv/index.html
The above web sites also provide many publications
and brochures that may be printed and copied.
As always, stay safe !
-Bird
***
