How to Increase the Safety of Your Community

Perhaps you have noticed an uptick in crime in the area around your home; perhaps you have a new little one you want to protect or a particularly valuable investment that you do not want to be destroyed due to negligence of your community security. In any case, you are not alone in wanting to make the space around you safer for everyone and everything you love.

Fortunately, you do have some control over the safety and security of your neighborhood. Here are a few changes you and your neighbors can make to ward off disaster.

Build a Tighter Community

Building a community in your neighborhood has all sorts of benefits. When you are familiar with those who live around you, you are more likely to feel a sense of belonging, improving your mental and physical health. Even better, because your neighbors live so close, they have the potential to become good friends, providing you with support during the best and worst periods in your life. At the very least, knowing your neighbors improve your neighborhood’s security, as you and your neighbors can better identify individuals who should not be poking around the neighborhood.

While you can go door to door and introduce yourself whenever you move into a new neighborhood, hosting neighborhood events is a faster and more effective way to build a sense of community amongst your neighbors. You might organize a summer block party, which involves shutting down your street, putting out all manner of games, playing music, and inviting potluck dishes. You can also invite your neighbors to a house-warming party, a backyard barbecue, or any other large, fun gathering. As long as you keep regular contact with your neighbors, you should all feel more secure in your shared space.

Invest in Yard Maintenance

Keeping your yard neat and clean will allow greater visibility around your windows and doors, which means home attackers have fewer places to hide and commit nefarious deeds. What’s more, a tidier neighborhood is generally less attractive to home invaders; However, well-kept homes are more likely to contain valuables. They are also more likely to be protected with security. If you do not have time to trim back your trees and hedges, you might consider hiring yard maintenance services to come weekly or biweekly.

Then again, your yard might be spick and span, but your neighbors could have overgrown shrubs that make you feel unsafe. If your repeated requests for better yard maintenance have gone unanswered, you can probably submit a complaint or report a violation with your city. City officials will likely visit your neighborhood and issue warnings or fines to get your neighbors to clean up their yards. You can also consider forming a homeowner’s association with your neighbors, which would give you the opportunity to issue fines directly to unkempt neighbors.

Campaign for Brighter Streets

It should go without saying that you should keep your home windows and doors locked, and at night, you should pull your window coverings closed. Unfortunately, suppose everyone in your neighborhood does this. In that case, your streets are likely to become incredibly dark, and it will be difficult for you and your neighbors to see dangerous individuals lurking around your homes. Thus, you should find ways to illuminate your streets without compromising your home security.

The best solution is streetlamps, which cast bright light across wide areas, improving visibility for both pedestrians and motorists. However, only your city can install a streetlamp, which could be a lengthy and difficult process. In the meantime, you might keep your external house lights on a timer, and you might encourage your neighbors to do the same to brighten your neighborhood at night.

Hire Security Services

Local security guard companies offer services that include posting security personnel at the entrance of your neighborhood or sending security officers on patrol around your neighborhood at regular intervals throughout the day and night. Having a trained security guard looking after your neighborhood means that someone is tasked with seeing and stopping criminal activity should it arise. What’s more, when you hire security services, you will always have someone to call when you feel unsafe.

If hiring security services is out of reach for your personal budget, you might pool together your resources with your neighbors’. Then again, if you do organize a homeowner’s association for your neighborhood, you might utilize some of those funds to pay for professional security.

Conclusion

Taking steps like befriending your neighbors, landscaping your yard, illuminating your streets, and hiring professional security services does more than put your mind at ease about the safety of your neighborhood. These steps actually decrease the likelihood of your home becoming the target of an attack.