Crime and vandalism are unfortunate realities of modern life. It’s not like both haven’t existed since ancient times, but these days, your community seems to be getting less safe. From gangs to bored teenagers, you and your neighbors need to do something to protect your homes.
Thankfully, there are some simple actions you can take today to help create a safer community. It shouldn’t come as a shock to learn the first thing is to speak with your neighbors.
Working With The Neighbors
Even the police cannot be watching everywhere in your neighborhood. That’s why the National Crime Prevention Council recommends joining or even starting a neighborhood watch. These are volunteer organizations where neighbors watch out for crime and report suspicious activity.
No one in a neighborhood watch confronts criminals. Instead, you watch out for each other’s home for any problems and call the police. This way, you look out for each other and help make your community safer. Criminals are less likely to target homes in your area if they know someone could be watching.
Along the same lines, consider even making a park watch. Public parks are great for the community, but at night, it’s easy for troublemakers to meet there and head out to engage in criminal activity. As with a neighborhood watch, the goal is to report activity.
How Home Security Helps
While watching each other’s houses is a great idea, it’s hard to do that when your home has no security in place. If criminals or vandals in the area learn your house has no alarm or often has unlocked doors, that’s going to attract crime to your home — and others. If one house is an easy target, others in the area are likely easier to rob as well.
But the opposite is also true. If your home is clearly protected by an alarm system, then many criminals steer clear of the entire area. It’s not worth the risk.
There are many home security systems to buy, but before you do, My Alarm Center recommends speaking with your neighbors about their experiences. Talk to them about any systems they have or if they can make any recommendations for your home.
Self-Defense Tips
Now that you have a neighborhood watch and a home security system, there’s one more thing to worry about: your own safety.
As Redfin points out, taking a self-defense course can help in two ways.
- If you know how to defend yourself, you can prevent violent crimes against you.
- Doing so spreads the word that your community is not one for criminals to visit.
This is one of those win-win cases where helping yourself also helps your neighbors.
Chances are, there are many self-defense courses in your area. Many police departments even offer these courses for free. But there are a few ways you can practice self-defense without a course:
- Don’t jog or walk around wearing earphones. You need to hear what’s going on around you.
- Walk wide around corners, and stay in well-lit areas at night.
- Trust your instincts. If you have a bad feeling, get out of there.
You Can Make Your Community Safer
Even though crime and vandalism happen, there are ways you can make your community a safer place to live. Join or create a neighborhood watch, then look into getting a home security system. Once you have some self-defense tactics under your belt, you can help even more. After all, this community is your home — you deserve to feel safe here.
Luke Murray created Council of Neighbors after an attempted burglary in his neighborhood showed the power of a neighborhood watch system in his community. He is passionate about helping neighborhoods across the country make themselves safer.
