• Be sure that your family knows accident, crime and fire prevention basics. Self-protection skills, how to react in an emergency and CPR or first aid techniques are valuable. Be aware of the issues.

• Ensure fire extinguishers, smoke alarm batteries, generator fuel, emergency supplies including food and water, contact lists and your emergency plan are proactively checked and refreshed for readiness.

• Store weapons and combustible materials securely in approved safety containers.

• Install consumer rated protective equipment including locking, lighting and detection devices.

• Know where your children or dependent seniors are and know what they are doing.

• Avoid leaving them unsupervised or supervised by a person who has not undergone a diligence investigation or you do not implicitly trust.

• Family members and caregivers should be briefed on household security and emergency preparedness plans including communications and rendezvous meeting places. Practice your plan. Training from a certified agency for neighborhood groups may be ideal.

• Walk, jog or hike with companion(s) in well lit, public safety patrolled areas against traffic with communications capability. Carry a mobile phone. Share your itinerary for more remote destinations. Check in with others on departure and arrival.

• Know the risk of travel destinations. Ensure the use of seatbelts, hands-free communications, GPS assistance and emergency supplies in any family vehicle. Consider roadside assistance.

• Report crimes, hazardous conditions (accidents, crimes, smoke, fire etc.) and suspicious behavior immediately to public safety agencies when it is safe to do so.

• Consider Crime stoppers and anonymous reporting ethics lines if you feel afraid to step forward as a witness for serious crimes.

• Find ways to resolve conflict nonviolently. The regular use of common courtesy and good manners helps to keep arguments from ending in violence. Involve supervisors and need-to-know subject matter experts when you feel afraid.

• If you cannot find a group that already exists in your neighborhood, start one. Federal, provincial, county or city public safety referral agencies are generally excellent resources.

• Encourage participation of groups that already have a stake in neighborhood safety local businesses, tenants’ or homeowners’ associations, churches, and fraternal or social organizations.

• Partner with local public safety officials for voluntary background diligence. (Don’t assume that community volunteers will not be predators).

• Look for training and certification.

• Consider all local man-made and natural environmental hazards. If you are in a hurricane, seismic, tornado, or wildfire prone area, volunteers for all-hazards are prized by first responder organizations who may need assistance ranging from crime prevention to search and rescue operations.

• Communities that present a unified front against crime can deter criminals from gaining a foothold. They can also expedite detection and response to other hazards like accidents, fires and manmade or natural disasters. When a community’s residents feel that they have a stake in a better future, they are more likely to take unified and proactive action.

• Local public safety agencies have staff members who can help you prevent and mitigate accidents, crimes, fires and unwanted outcomes from other environmental risks. There are also municipal, county, provincial, state and federal offices that assist crime prevention and disaster preparedness and assistance efforts.

• Involve teens, seniors, and children in ridding the neighborhood of litter and graffiti.

• Contact the public works department for help or expert guidance when cleaning up your neighborhood. Removal of hazardous materials including chemicals, debris, materials (asbestos) sharps (hypodermic needles) and solvents may require technical assistance.

• Volunteer your home as a safe haven or watch-house for schoolbus riders or children who are scared or need assistance. Make certain the volunteer organization is vetted and approved by local public safety agencies.

• Hold block meetings and discuss specific ways to fight crime or be better prepared for emergencies. Get to know your neighbors and agree to look out for each other.