Know Your Neighbors

Aside from the other benefits of forming strong connections with your neighbors, building relationships creates a team-approach to spotting suspicious behaviors and activities.

Improve Outdoor Lighting

It’s been proven that well-lit homes and streets deter criminal activity. If you want to add a light to a street in your neighborhood, reach out to your county or city. For your own property, you can set up motion sensor lights which are especially effective.

Secure Your Property

Regardless of where you live, you should also take special care to secure your property and belongings. That means locking your windows and doors to your home, securing your garage and any other structures on your property like sheds. Making sure your vehicle is locked and removing valuables can also deter criminal activity.

Attend A Training

The Associated and the Baltimore Jewish Council host security-related trainings throughout the year. These sessions focus on topics such as situational awareness, emergency response and conflict resolution. Attending one of these sessions can provide you with expert advice that you can then share with your friends, family and neighbors.

Educate Youth About Safety

Equally important to educating ourselves is educating the next generation. Talk to your children and teens about awareness, things they should look out for and where and who they can go to for help.

Join Community Apps and Groups

While getting to know your neighbors is critical to maintaining a safe community, sometimes it’s hard to get together and meet in person. That is why platforms such as Nextdoor, WhatsApp and Facebook are helpful in not only maintaining these relationships but in passing information quickly.

At the end of the day, you know your neighborhood better than anyone else. Applying some or all these tips can make a huge difference.

Be safe!

David J. Folderauer, Director of Security