Keeping your own property safe is as important as keeping your neighborhood safe. The only difference between these two things is that every resident in this area needs to work together to deliver a safer environment for both the children and adults.
No matter where you live and how safe you feel, crime can find its way into any neighborhood in the world. The possibility of crime rates rising in your area is always possible, especially if crime rates have grown in cities near your area.
Keep in mind, crime is not always related to something more serious as an assault, burglaries or something worse. Criminal activity is when someone runs a red light, especially in a smaller community where children are always outside and playing on the street or in their backyards.
Fortunately, there are several things you and your neighbors can do to prevent criminal activities to keep your homes safe.
Contents
Keep your doors locked
One of the common ways burglars enter someone’s home is just by twisting the door handle. In other words, they look for homes that leave their doors or windows unlocked. This method is much simpler and quieter than having to break a lock or pick a lock.
So, the first step to keep your family safe is to make sure that everything is locked. Check the front door and the back door too (if you have one) then ensure that all of the windows have their latch locked. You should do this every time both you and your partner are leaving the kids alone at home and when you are going to bed. You do not want to wake up in the morning to find out that someone came in through your window and took all your prized possessions.
To spread this safety to the people in your neighborhood, make sure you constantly advise them to build the same habit of keeping the doors locked.
Source: lifehack
Always report crimes
Even if it is the prettiest type of crime, make sure to report it. Sure, a graffiti on the school bus (which is public property) doesn’t really hurt anyone, but a person that’s ready to break such a law will probably break other laws too. Report everything from petty theft, vandalism to burglary, battery assaults to something more serious. If you do not make the police in your area aware of criminal activity, there won’t be any reason why they should have active patrol in your neighborhood.
Collaborate with your closest neighbors and convince them that they should also report any kind of suspicious activity. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Traffic control
One of the biggest dangers in a smaller community is always traffic. People drinking under the influence, running red lights and reckless driving is a scary thought when you know that your children are right outside playing basketball right next to the street.
So, what can you do to ensure that the drivers in your area will be more aware when going through these streets? Well, first we recommend you have a sit down with your community and spread awareness about reckless driving. Every neighbor should work toward being a better drive for the safety of everyone’s families.
Next, you could pitch the idea of installing brand new speed bumps on the street to force people into slowing down when passing the school and playground areas. Adding a few warning signs can also be quite effective.
If you still feel like the situation hasn’t improved after the changes you have pushed to make, then you could consider installing a more efficient traffic control. Check out the ELTEC traffic controller that offers real-time conflict monitoring which ensures that the signal will never fail no matter what. Having a completely self-sustained traffic controller will ensure that the signals will never desynchronize which might cause traffic blocks which can inspire erratic driving behaviors.
Source: obf
Build a community watch
A great way to improve the safety of your neighborhood is by creating your own community watch. Pick the most reliable neighbors from your area and come to an agreement on schedules for night-time watch. Make sure you inform the place that you are creating such a group so they can give you a couple of bits of advice on this subject.
Once you have set a schedule, you can use this time to observe any suspicious activity and then report it to your community and your police. You can work with the police to give them in-depth information about what and who you have seen.
You can also put up signs to inform criminals that there is a community watch that can catch them in the act. We believe that such a sign will divert most criminals into some other direction.
Improved lighting
If you feel like some sections of your neighborhood are too dark then you should definitely inform your community to invest in street lights. Keeping your homes lit up will make burglars think twice before entering.
Burglars like to find out of sight houses with insufficient lighting to reduce the chances of someone spotting them.
Source: erahomesecurity
Keep your lights on
If you want to deter burglars from your home then we recommend that you always leave some of your lights always on. If you feel like this can make your energy bills jump then get LED light bulbs and replace them with your old ones. These LED light bulbs can last ten times longer and are much more energy-efficient. This will allow you to keep them on throughout every night.
Advise all of your neighbors to do the same and you will see how your neighborhood will light up at night. These lights will surely make criminals think twice before trying to do anything.
Home security system
If you feel like you need the extra security then you should just install a security system with an alarm. Once an alarm sounds off in the middle of the night, every single neighbor will probably get out to check out what is going on. If a burglar tried to enter your home then he will definitely get caught.
