In 2019 there were over a million violent crimes cataloged by the F.B.I. Many of these took place in neighborhoods just like yours. If you want to live in a peaceful crime-free place, focusing on neighborhood safety should be one of your primary concerns.
These five tips will give you all the neighborhood safety information you need. That way you can keep your neighborhood a safe and nice place to live even as the fabric of our once civil society continues to fray and tear.
1. Get to Know Your Neighbors
The backbone of any safe neighborhood is a strong sense of community. All too often nowadays, people spend their lives behind closed doors and drawn shades. Getting to know your neighbors gives you an extra set of eyes in the neighborhood.
If you should go out of town, you can count on your neighbors to look out for your house and dissuade any intruders. Not only that, getting to know your neighbors can be a fun and social experience.
Once the virus situation calms down, try a neighborhood block party or barbecue. In the meantime, saying hello to a neighbor or having a conversation with them from a distance can go a long way to improving neighborhood relations.
2. Get to Know Local Police
There was a time when police officers were looked at by communities inclusively rather than as outsiders. This time can come again. After all, the men and women that put their lives on the line wearing the badge and blue deserve to be honored.
Learn the names of your local police officers. Support fundraising drives and events. Humanize your local law enforcement officers. That way they can become familiar with your neighborhood and not feel threatened or like outsiders when they are called in.
3. Improve Lighting
Darkness is a criminal’s best friend. It provides cover for them to carry out all of their mischievous deeds. Improving the lighting with Icicle lights around your house dissuades break-ins and unwanted intruders.
Buy led lights and place them at critical areas surrounding your home such as windows, doors, gates, and walkways. That way the cover of darkness will not afford criminals the benefit of going undetected.
4. Start a Neighborhood Watch
A neighborhood watch program builds fellowship and community among neighbors. It also serves as a crime deterrent without having to call in the police. Work out a rotating schedule for beats so everybody pulls their own weight.
5. Have a Defense Plan for Neighborhood Safety
The average police response time is 10 minutes. During a robbery, break-in, or violent crime a lot can happen in 10 minutes. Having a defense plan could mean the difference between life and death. Start by making a neighborhood safety assessment.
Depending on your state’s laws pertaining to firearms, your defense plan could include having guns or other weapons for home defense. Non-deadly weapons such as mace and batons can also play a role. As can a “panic room” to fall back to when needed.
A neighborhood-wide defense plan works great as well. If a community member is getting terrorized, the other neighbors can step in and assist as they are waiting for law enforcement to arrive on the scene. This can save lives and property.
Make Your Neighborhood Safe
During these dark times we find ourselves in, neighborhood safety can be a bright light of comfort. Build community in your neighborhood and ensure the safety of all those who live there.
Implement these tips in your neighborhood today, and make it a safer place for all. For all of your other news and information make sure to check out the rest of our blog.
