Articles

How Your City Can Improve Public Safety for Families

by Rayanne M. Writer

The image source is Pexels.


Public safety departments exist in cities around the world. These departments are responsible for ensuring the general safety and well-being of both residents and visitors. One thing to keep in mind when looking at the options your city offers is what you do to protect families. Families may face robbers on the street or while waiting in line at the ATM and other serious problems around every corner. No matter how big your city is, you need to look at how you can improve public safety for families of all types and sizes.

Install Outdoor Lights

Outdoor lights are a great way to keep visitors and residents of all ages safe, especially motion-activated lights. Your city should install these lights in outdoor spaces where people spend time. Though you might focus on placing lights on city streets, don't forget about alleys and parks. Families often spend long hours in the park as they watch their kids play. Good lights help them keep an eye on their surroundings and know when something isn't right.

Add Police Phones

Many colleges use police phones or security phones. These phones are in small booths with bright blue lights that are easy to see in the dark. When someone needs help, they simply pick up the phone and immediately connect with security or police officers. It's easy to add the same phones around your town, especially if there are areas where robberies and violent attacks occurred. Most cities connect these phones to emergency operations centers. Make sure that families know they can call for help for any reason. They may need to call when an allergic child gets stung by a bee or when someone stole their car.

Welcome Watch Groups

Neighborhood watch groups help the public get involved in keeping your city safe. Though often found in small communities, they have benefits to bigger cities too. You may need to advertise and ask for volunteers to help. Volunteers agree to take turns watching over a few streets or a section of the city. They may wear badges that identify them as members and carry phones that allow them to warn other groups about what they saw. Many families feel more comfortable and confident walking through cities where they know others are looking out for them.

Use Monitoring

In addition to neighborhood watch groups, monitoring can also include routine patrols by local law enforcement. Police can patrol both specific parts of the city and general areas. Do you have a list of calls or emails from parents who are concerned about strange people loitering around where their kids play? Maybe you saw a drug deal happen near a playground or heard about thieves who targeted a local store. Police officers patrol by foot and vehicle. It's easy to station officers around the playground to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and have other officers drive by locations where crimes often occur.

Rely on Cameras

There are many security camera systems that cities can now use to keep families safe. Some have built-in facial recognition technology that identifies people based on DMV photos. If you have an area prone to violence, installing cameras will tell potential criminals that they are on film and police have evidence of their crimes. You can also use red light cameras that you place on streets where accidents often happen. Parents will like knowing that those cameras tell drivers to slow down because they don't need to worry about being in an accident with their children.

Teach Kids Safety Tips

No matter how much money your public safety department has in its budget, you can teach kids safety tips that they will love sharing with their parents and other loved ones. Consider programs in local elementary schools where officers go over the top tips with kids in an assembly. You will also find online resources that parents and teachers can use along with programs to pass out in schools. Kids need to know how to dial 911 during an emergency and where they can find police phones around your town. It's also helpful to go over some of the recent crimes that occurred.

Conclusion

Improving the public safety of your city for families is easy. Look for simple ways to help those who visit or live in your city, including outreach programs in schools and installing cameras.


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About Rayanne M. Advanced   Writer

4 connections, 4 recommendations, 289 honor points.
Joined APSense since, June 15th, 2020, From Corvallis, United States.

Created on Mar 11th 2022 13:53. Viewed 218 times.

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