We all place a high value on personal safety. Wouldn’t it be comforting to have on hand an impenetrable plastic bubble that could protect us and everything we hold dear, from all possible harm? Unfortunately, this option is not currently available…but a few simple steps can greatly reduce the risks we take on a daily basis!

Reporting Crime

Reporting crime is critically important to the health of your neighborhood. You should report all suspicious activity. Knowing what is normal in your neighborhood can help you determine what you should report. For instance, if you know your neighbor is away and you see someone removing items from their house - that would be a suspicious activity you should report to the police right away! Other things you should report are: gun shots, screaming, unusually excessive dog barking, seeing someone being forced into a car, a stranger walking up the side of a house, a person carrying away personal property, an abandoned vehicle, heavy traffic of many people coming and going at a certain residence. Things you should observe and evaluate to determine whether or not a call is necessary are: a stranger going door to door (are they selling something or checking door handles?), slow moving vehicles (are they looking for an address or casing a house?), forcible entry into a house (did the person lock himself out or is it a break-in?) Let your instincts guide you and when in doubt, report the incident to the non-emergency number.

You will be asked to describe the suspect, so try to observe the following:
Age, Sex, Height, Weight, Hair, Race, Eye color, Complexion, Clothes and Accessories, Vehicle Make, Model, color and license plate. It may be useful to keep a record of your observations and reports.

Creating a Safe Environment

As with your own home, good lighting on the street helps to deter crime. Make sure your street has adequate lighting and if it needs more or brighter streetlights contact the City. Encourage your neighbors to install motion detection lighting and leave on porch lights at night. Check to see that house numbers are clearly visible from the street for emergency response units.

Make sure everyone trims their landscaping to reduce potential places for criminals to hide. Eliminating graffiti and blight goes a long way to set the tone for a neighborhood. A well-kept neighborhood sends an unspoken message that the community does not tolerate crime. Promptly paint over any graffiti to prevent the problem from getting worse, but before painting, take a picture of the mark for your records, it may help the police department to track gang activity. Do not tolerate blighted properties featuring overgrown weeds and broken windows. It has been proven that one broken window can lead to increased vandalism in your neighborhood.

Using Your Cell Phone

Did you know when you call 911 from your cell phone you may unwittingly be delaying the response to your emergency? All 911 calls made from cell phones go directly to the Highway Patrol headquarters. From that location your call must be rerouted to your local city police or fire department (unless it is a highway emergency) and then to the appropriate emergency response unit. Program the correct emergency number into your cell phone to use in the case of emergency.

In addition to carrying the usual proper ID and emergency contact information in your wallet, you should also add “ICE” to your cell phone. ICE stands for “In Case of Emergency”. The idea is that you store the word " I C E " in your mobile phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency". In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them. For more than one contact name you can use ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc. Following quickly on the heels of advisories to add "ICE" entries to mobile phones were hoax warnings that doing so would trigger premium charges or viruses randomly sent to phones to scan for such entries. These “warnings” are hoaxes, see: http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/icephone.asp

Use your cell phone with caution when out on the street. It is safer to go inside a store when using your phone. Criminals have taken advantage of people who are not paying attention when they are talking on their cell phone. Always try to stay aware of your surroundings when you are out on the street.

One Neighborhood's Solution

Abating The Drug House

Do NOT	Do
Confront the drug dealers	Observe, report and keep a log of your observations and calls to the police.
Start your neighborhood group focusing on the issue of a specific drug house	Do start your neighborhood group on general neighborhood safety, improvements and/or emergency preparedness.
Allow yourself to be observed going door to door	Do mail your flyers or use a phone tree
Give your name or address to police dispatch, they already know your location; well-organized drug dealers have ways of listening in to these calls.	Ask for an incident number or sequence number and write it down, report the address of the drug house
Have police come to your home to file a police report	Police reports are available by fax, online, at the Police Station or you may call the Police Dept. to have one mailed to you.
Put your name or home address on written communication to the property owner or tenant of the drug house	Use your neighborhood group’s name and a P. O. Box for written communications; a signature is not necessary.
Hold meetings at your house	Meet at a local coffee shop or restaurant well out of view from the drug house
Become angry, cross or disrespectful to your police officers or dispatch operator	Show your police officers respect, appreciation and patience, develop your relationship with the police and city
Engage in petty arguments with your neighbors	Remember who is causing the real problems and try to work together
Get discouraged	Most of these problems can be resolved, but they do take time.

You will probably know it if you have a drug house on your street as there will be frequent coming and going of people and you may see people passing off cash or reaching into bushes to retrieve a stash. Drug dealing is associated with many dangerous and annoying activities that are upsetting and damaging to the lives of nearby neighbors. There may be people loitering, public intoxication, fighting, “sideshows”, and even drive-by shootings, along with many other problems. As much as these activities are a serious concern, direct confrontation with the perpetrators should be avoided for your own personal safety.

You will need to work closely with your police department and city agencies to gain control of the situation. It is important to (anonymously) report crime and suspicious behavior to your police department. Report any criminal activity you see or gunshots you hear promptly. Encourage all the members of your group to continue reporting and logging all suspicious activities. Do not become discouraged if the police cannot respond to every call, they have many calls and are sometimes over whelmed.
Do not give your name or address over the phone to the dispatch operator, but always report the street address of the drug house. Obtain an “incident number” or "sequence number" for the purposes of retrieving the data later. Without an incident number your call will not stay on the computer system. Be sure your neighbors are already organized before you begin your work.

Neighbors are often concerned about possible retaliation. While there may be a small risk associated with properly abating the drug house on your block, there is often a much greater risk to your personal safety if you choose allow these dangerous nuisances to continue as they tend to worsen over time. Usually, drug dealers are afraid of groups; it is easier to single out and intimidate an individual they perceive as making trouble for them. That is why it is so important to be involved with your neighbors as a group and meet with your local police officers before beginning to work on this problem. The following table will help you to avoid becoming a target for retaliation.