How Can You Contribute to Crime Prevention
Crime is unfortunately impossible to eradicate completely but there are ways to make it more difficult for the criminals to carry out their plan or/and get away with crime unpunished. Everyone can contribute to crime prevention, including you. Here is how:
Take care for your home and personal safety. The very basic and most important thing you can do to help tackle crime is to take care for your home and personal safety. Locked and well lit house that is equipped with alarm system is highly unlikely to be broken in. Also, be sure not to let strangers into your home and keep cash and valuables hidden from sight. You are recommended to teach your children to lock the house if they come home first and not to open the door or answer the phone to anyone. In addition to making your house as burglar-proof as possible, you should also follow the standard personal safety measures when you are away from home: beware of strangers who approach you, keep your purse close to your body, avoid walking alone in the dark, avoid poorly lit streets and teach your children not to speak to and take anything from strangers.
Use the Internet responsibly. In addition to the real life dangers, there are also many threats online. You are recommended never to reveal your personal details and much less your bank account number and similar sensitive information. Also, teach your children to keep their identity a secret when using the web and make sure that they understand that people they communicate with online can lie about who they are and how old are they. For that reason neither you or your children should ever accept a meeting with an online friend.
Go to the police if you were a victim or witness of crime. No matter if you feel scared, ashamed or guilty for what happened or what you have witnessed, it is highly important to be aware that it is not your fault. You are highly recommended to report the crime to the police as soon as possible to prevent the person to harm more people as well as to be punished for his or her crime.
Join the Neighbourhood Watch. If you want to be active in crime prevention in your community, consider joining the Neighbourhood Watch which is made up from a group of volunteer residents who work with the local police, share information about other residents such as who is away on vacation and look after the neighbourhood with an aim to prevent crime. If there is no Neighbourhood Watch in your community, you should perhaps take the initiative and create it yourself. Contact your local police station for information and help in starting the group that will look after your community.
Become a volunteer to victim or witness support group. Crime unfortunately happens everyday, while people who were victims or witnesses of crime often have a hard time getting the event behind them. You can help them get over what happened by listening to them and offering comfort and compassion.