The community is an integral part of every suburban household. It facilitates healthy social interactions while also providing a great place for families to grow alongside their neighbors. However, a community is not invulnerable to crime and violence. It can easily be a ground for illegal transactions and be home to dangerous criminals. Violence can also happen at any time, leading to injuries and trauma among people within the community. Pollution can also be a severe health problem for every family living within your area. Being proactive against these problems should be your priority, and here are some ways you can do that.
Create A Committee
Committees are a group of people gathered together to perform a specific function. Having a committee designated to watch over your community can be a great preventive measure against crimes and violence. It can also be your first responders against natural disasters such as storms and earthquakes.
A committee assigned to the protection of a particular community is usually called a ‘Neighborhood Watch.’ A neighborhood watch is a conglomerate of citizens that keep an eye out for crime and violence within a city, village, or town. They aim to keep the peace and report to authorities property crimes such as theft and vandalism. The best part about having a neighborhood watch is that everyone can participate in it.
Citizens that see potential violence happening on the street can report it to the proper authorities. They don’t inherently need to be part of the watch. They just need to have the presence of mind and dedication in serving the community. This is why it’s essential to promote community cohesion among families that live within your area.
Promoting Community Cohesion
Community cohesion or social cohesion is an essential part of an individual’s daily life. As we all know, interpersonal relationships are important to each of us. Being a part of a bigger something is one of our great purpose as human beings. It’s important to remind families and individuals living in your community of these things through programs.
Social cohesion can be increased by inviting various families into outreach programs such as tree planting, volunteering in a soup kitchen, and cleaning your streets. Other activities that could increase social cohesion can be as simple as having a garden party, having a talent show, or even having a game show every weekend. All of these activities can help remind families that the community is living as one and that you’re there for each other. By promoting this, you can have more active community members who look out for one another.
Install Security Devices
If homes in your community do not have security devices, it becomes a collaborative effort to keep every street in your community safe. Installing surveillance cameras in every street corner can help your neighborhood watch in watching over the streets. Installing some sort of warning system in every lamp post can aid with reporting violence within an area. These are some security devices that can aid in protecting your community from violence and crime. If you can generate the funds for it, you can buy simple, smart devices by the bulk and distribute them to every home within your area. Getting the funds for this may require convincing a couple of folks, but it’s for the greater good of the community.
Increasing Public Health
East Palo Alto, California, used to have one of the highest crime rates in the US. However, upon implementing activities that promote public health, the crime rate reduced within four years.
The city created zones for increasing public health. This became known as Fitness Improvement Training (FIT) Zones. These zones host a variety of physical activities such as Zumba dancing, power walking, and more. The zones are found in underused areas in the community and monitored continuously by the East Palo Alto Police Department. Essentially, implementing these exercises helps deter citizens from committing anti-social activities that may hurt the people within the community. And by improving community health, citizens started to share more positive experiences among themselves.
Overall, public health is an essential part of a healthy community. A community that propagates public health through exercises such as jogging, walking, and biking can reduce violence and crime. It can also increase positive and meaningful experiences among families within the community.
Protecting the community is in the best interest of every individual living within your city. Following some of these examples can help protect your city against these threats. Additionally, finding new and exciting ways to ensure your community’s safety and being an exemplary citizen can be one of the best ways you can keep your community safe against violence and crime.