Crime Prevention and Community Safety

Personal Safety

While anyone can be victimized, children, women, and seniors are usually more vulnerable. The following guidelines will help protect yourself and your family by maintaining a more secure and safer environment while you are out in your community or at home.

• Always walk with a friend. There is safety in numbers.
• Do not let your children or grandchildren go to the park unsupervised.
• Walk with your head up, notice people coming into your greater personal space at least a half a city block away.
• Determine if someone is taking an interest in you or your property and if you feel uncomfortable take some action to put distance between you and the possible threat.
• Notice who is approaching you from all directions while you are walking, take the time to stop and look over your shoulder ever so often so you know who is coming up behind you.
• Always walk facing traffic even when you are walking on the sidewalk, you will then notice if a vehicle is slowing down or if the occupants of a vehicle are taking an interest in you or your personal property.
• If you must carry a purse, do not hang it from the shoulder strap or carry it at your side, anyone walking a half a block behind you can see it, it gives a thief lots of time to plan how to steal it from you. Carry your purse like a football tuck it into your elbow and forearm area, then only those people approaching you face to face will see that you are carrying a purse.
• If a robber threatens you with a weapon for your wallet or purse, be prepared to hand it over by throwing it past the robber and then immediately put a barrier like a parked car between you and the robber. You can now keep away from the robber and call for help or call 911 for assistance on your cell phone.
• Don’t display large amounts of money in public.
• If someone asks you for a donation in a public place like outside a grocery store, tell him that you will give it to him on your way out. After you have paid for your groceries remember to keep a loonie or a toonie in your pocket so that you will not have to open your wallet and purse out in public where it can easily be grabbed and stolen.
• Always be aware of your surroundings. Be mindful of persons loitering or acting suspiciously especially near automated banking machines. You are at a higher risk when you are conducting transactions at ATM’s or have just finished banking, especially in the evening hours.
• If you suspect you are being followed, go to the nearest well-lit public place or business. Contact the police immediately and report the suspects’ vehicle, personal description and suspicious actions.
• Don’t leave purses unattended in shopping carts or on store counters, this means don’t turn your back on your purse even if it is in the shopping cart that is right beside you.
• Don’t reveal personal information to strangers on the telephone or at your door.
• Do not allow children to answer the door it they are home alone. They must however respond verbally by talking through the door, not opening it and saying my dad can’t come to the door right now he is busy, otherwise the visitor may be a thief who will break into the house. As long as there is the potential for a witness no matter how young, thieves will look go else where.
• Use only your first initials with your surname on mailboxes, directories, etc. especially if you live alone.