Crime Prevention
Ten Things Adults Can Do To Stop Violence
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Set up a Neighborhood Watch or a community patrol, working with police.
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Make sure your streets and homes are well-lit.
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Make sure that all the youth in the neighborhood have positive ways to spend their spare time, through organized recreation, tutoring programs, part-time work, and volunteer opportunities.
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Build a partnership with police, focused on solving problems instead of reacting to crises. Make it possible for neighbors to report suspicious activity or crimes without fear of retaliation.
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Take advantage of "safety in numbers" to hold rallies, marches, and other group activities to show you're determined to drive out crime and drugs.
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Clean up the neighborhood! Involve everyone - teens, children, senior citizens. Graffiti, litter, abandoned cars, and run-down buildings tell criminals that you don't care about where you live or each other. Call the local public works department and ask for help in cleaning up.
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Ask local officials to use new ways to get criminals out of your building or neighborhood. These include enforcing anti-noise laws, housing codes, health and fire codes, anti-nuisance laws, and drug-free clauses in rental leases.
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Work with schools to establish drug-free zones.
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Work with recreation officials to do the same for parks.
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Develop and share a phone list of local organizations that can provide counseling, job training, guidance, and other services that can help neighbors.