How can jobs for youth improve community safety?

By involving the youth of a community in a job, a sense responsibility and of self-satisfaction is created. The free time that may result in negative involvement in other activities is replaced with time spent on positive, productive activity. This will result in less drug use and less time for exposure to the chance of negative experiences such as becoming involved in crime. In the case of youth who have already fallen victim to drug use or become involved in crime, employment can be an excellent deterrent to continuing these activities.

Types of youth jobs

Jobs that are meaningful to each individual will produce more successful results in preventing drug use and crime among youth. Creating jobs that help to improve the community the child resides in will give them a sense of pride and will foster a want to continue that improvement. These jobs could include helping to establish a youth activity center in the community, reaching out to their peers through guided counseling over the phone, or participating in a program such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

By giving youth a positive responsibility such as these jobs, the rate of drug use and of involvement in crime will be reduced, and the future of a young person will be influenced in a powerful way. Less involvement in negative activity now means less crime within the community in the future.

Why does quality matter?

• A good quality deadbolt lock can be a deterrent to a potential criminal. Fast and easy are the requirements of most home burglars, and a good quality lock will not be fast or easy to break, meaning many will move on to the next target.
• Doors that provide entry into a garage are often targeted by criminals because these doors are overlooked where security is concerned. This gives the burglar an advantage of a quick entry, and a place to hide while he or she continues to break into your home. Spending the extra money to put a high-quality lock on a garage door could save a home from a break-in.

Features to look for in a lock

• Double-cylinder deadbolt locks can be dangerous in situations where fast escape is needed from the home, such as during a fire. If this type of lock is chosen, precious time could be wasted searching for the key to get out.
• The casing or housing of the lock should be made of hardened steel and should be beveled. This reduces the chance of having the lock hammered or pried off. An anti-drill feature should be chosen as well, because it will prevent the lock mechanism from being drilled out by a criminal.

If training a guard dog is what is wanted, here are some things to look for in a dog:

• Start off with an adult so you can judge their personality. Their natural disposition is the most important thing to look for.
• Look for a medium to medium-large dog. The breed doesn’t necessarily matter.
• Don’t get a dog that will attack other dogs. This will just distract the dogs from their ability to protect their owner.
• Having a rapport with the dog is important. Dogs will protect their owners when they love and respect them, not fear them.

What to do/what not to do when training a dog:

• A beaten dog will never respect or love their owner and will not want to protect them. These dogs would be impossible to control and could wind up injuring a family member. The dog needs to be trained in such a way that they respond immediately to simple commands such as “Sit” and “Stay”. This is a starting point so they will be obedient as well when the time to protect comes.
• Keep in mind that training an attack dog may not be necessary. Just having a large breed dog can intimidate many intruders who would not want to mess with a big scary looking dog.

Reasons to Have a Burglar Alarm

Although these alarms can sometimes be annoying in a community if they go off accidentally, they can have huge benefits for a community as well. If the resident is not home and their alarm goes off, it can alert neighbors close to them to call police as well. For a fire alarm, it can warn other neighbors if the homes are close enough to where the fire could become dangerous to more than just the home it started in.
In emergencies, well- knit communities will generally come together to do what they can to help each other. Neighbors can keep each other alerted by phone as well if they are home when someone else’s alarm is going off, whether a real emergency or not.

Alarm Types Can Include:

• Smoke and heat detection
• Intruder detection
• Carbon monoxide detection
• Glass-break detectors

Having alarms in the homes in a community can make everyone feel a little safer with the knowledge that they and others will be alerted if there is any danger.

Benefits of a Local Church in a Community:

• A safe place for people to gather. Other than being what it is, a church and a place to learn and grow in the Christian faith, churches are always somewhere people can go no matter what they need or when. It is a safe place to go, and many times there are people there who can try and help with whatever the problem is if there is one.
• A great place to meet other community members. Churches are a great place to meet other community members. You can find many lasting friendships from attending a local church.
  Churches usually have several different types of outreaches for the community to benefit from as well. These can range from things done directly in the church, to things done around the world.

Some Outreaches Churches Have:

• A Food Pantry – Many food pantries are run right out of the local church. Usually you just have to know the day of the week and the time that it is held to be able to attend and receive food. Some churches have you attend a service beforehand, but you normally do not have to be a member of the church to benefit.
• Prison Ministry – Some churches have a program where they have members periodically go to a local prison and minister to the prisoners there.
• Missions – Whether local or worldwide, most churches have a mission ministry of some kind.

Churches bring communities together in many ways and help a community to grow stronger and healthier.

Main Types of Fun Fairs Include:

• A yearly fair where there are different vendors from various local businesses. This type of fair can make community members aware of businesses and what they have to offer, increasing a local store’s business. These are great because businesses get a chance to show the community hands-on the goods or services they have to offer.
• A one- time fair put on by a church or other local organization to raise awareness or funds for a particular need, such as a food pantry. Any type of fair can be put on with some games, food, etc. if a there is a need in a community.
• A yearly fair based around a holiday or certain time of the year. These can be your typical fair, with food vendors, rides, and attractions. They might be hosted by a traveling fair group that is hired every year by the community to come there.

Ways a Fun Fair Helps A Community:

• Help to keep the economy growing. In the case of a fair that hosts local businesses and their services, this helps the economy of a community as a whole, keeping local businesses open by attracting new customers.
• Helping the needy of a community. With fairs related to bringing awareness to a need like a food bank, people of the community can come together and help donate food or money to these organizations that run on volunteers and donations exclusively to help the needy in the community.
• Fun fairs can have major impacts on a community and help it to grow and take care of its members. They bring the community together as a whole to help each other live and grow.

Different Types Of Community Organizations Include:

• Educational services
• Social welfare
• Community-service
• Personal growth/improvement
• Self-help
• School/church groups
• Sports clubs

Sports clubs within a community can have a lot to offer its community members. It usually consists of a place that accommodates many different types of sports within one organization, or they could have a single sports team for that particular community.

Things That a Community Sports Club May Offer:

A Variety of Sports/Sports Teams – Sports that may be offered can include football, basketball, swimming, baseball/softball, tennis, paint ball and/or roller derby. These can include organized teams, or something more informal like a basketball court where you can play free games with your family/friends.
Different Classes for Workout/Health- A lot of community health clubs are offering more and more fitness classes. These classes can include things such as spinning, aerobics, yoga and one that has gotten a lot of attention recently – Zumba.

Sports clubs are good for a community because they can bring the people from that community together. With sports teams to play on, it gives people a fun and healthy environment to come together and get to know each other and form lasting relationships. It is especially hard when new to a community to meet people. Being involved in a sports club is a great way to meet the active members of that community.
Regular exercise not only keeps people healthy, but it boosts morale as well. A community involved in their sports club is a healthier, happier community.

Benefits of a security agency

The presence of a hired security agency in the community can provide several benefits. These agencies require employees to have a professional appearance, dressing in a company-issued uniform that clearly indicates they are part of a team that is dedicated to the prevention of crime. The presence of a uniformed security agency employee alone is often an excellent deterrent for would-be offenders. These agencies also make use of marked vehicles to further emphasize the presence in the community. A reputable company will make use of video surveillance equipment in the vehicles, providing a firm record of any criminal activity that may occur while on duty. Security officers are trained to spot suspicious activity, and will not hesitate to stop someone, greet them, and find out why they are in the neighborhood. Prevention of crime equals customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction means more business. Because of this, a community can rest assured that a reputable company will take all the necessary steps to providing a safer environment.

How to choose a company

A security agency should be well-known, have a history of good customer satisfaction, and have a satisfaction guarantee available for review. The agency should be licensed, professional, and involve all employees in professional security training. Employees should always be visually identifiable and always use a company-owned vehicle.

Getting the community involved

Organizing a community vigilante committee is a step in the direction of taking control over what happens in the roads of a community. Becoming involved in town hall meetings, for example, is a way to actively express the community’s voice where road safety is an issue. Tragedies resulting from disobedience of traffic laws are too-often referred to as accidents, although they are actually crimes that could have been easily prevented. Education within the community of this fact can potentially change the view of those who regularly break traffic laws.

Many grants and programs are available for community involvement in road safety in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Very few programs of this type are available in the United States. Getting the community involved and having an active voice in the local government may be the only way to change this.

What you can do now

Your organization can make use of video cameras, still cameras, and home surveillance cameras to catch and record law-breakers on the road. Using this evidence along with noting down the plate numbers of the car and a description of the driver can also be helpful to local law enforcement, especially in the case of a habitual offender. Ask the local government to put signs up in the community where young children often play, making drivers aware of this fact.

Direct confrontation of a reckless driver should never be initiated. Always report these law-breakers to the local police, and make a record of every offense observed.

How does it work?

Local businesses can become involved in these community projects, although their involvement is not an absolute necessity. With the involvement of these businesses, however, managers and directors can become mentors for those involved in street crime, showing ways to become successful without resorting to something illegal. Without local business involvement, the same can still be done by members of the community through the development of programs that are designed to teach these things. Other youth in the community are often involved in recruiting those involved in street crime because they are usually within the same age group. A child involved in negative or criminal activity will usually respond more positively to his or her peers because they feel that they are on the same level, whereas with an adult, they may feel instant objection because of the natural resentment of authority at this age.

Reasons to target the community streets

Many of the criminal offenders found on the streets are there because of underlying circumstances, such as becoming homeless, having run away from home, or financial troubles within the home. Reaching out to these people and offering them a positive alternative and showing how a successful life can be achieved may be the only thing needed to turn someone away from a life of crime.

In addition to the possibility of turning someone’s life towards a positive path, the prevention of crime that may happen to that person themselves can also be a benefit of reaching out.