Neighborhoods develop safety strategies

untitled-(25-of-65)Neighborhoods could start a campaign to let would-be criminals know “we are watching and we will call the police.” That’s the idea voted the most likely to be effective at a four-neighborhood safety and security meeting on Saturday.

Residents of Coleman Highlands, Roanoke, Valentine and Volker came together to discuss how safe they think their neighborhoods are and how they might work together to improve safety.

Neighbors have expressed concerns about security after recent incidents in the four Midtown neighborhoods. Organizers of the meeting asked residents to come together to discuss whether a joint effort to improve safety made sense, and what types of things residents would be willing to do to improve safety.

survey-resultsBefore the meeting, neighborhood residents said in an online survey that they feel fairly safe (8 on a scale of 1 to 10) during the day and somewhat less safe (6 out of 10) at night.

After discussing concerns and current efforts such as block watch, security patrols, and cameras, the fifty participants voted on the best ideas for a joint neighborhood effort to increase safety and security.

The most popular ideas included:

  • Branding – “We watch, we call the police”
  • Campaign to raise awareness across neighborhoods
  • Prevention such as porch lights, alarms, no soliciting stickers, lighting on houses and sidewalks
  • A joint crime awareness website
  • A coalition of private security cameras
  • A formal safety and security organization with regular meetings

Participants formed committees to further strategize about these ideas.

If you would like to get involved, email Mary Jo Draper at mjdraper@midtownkcpost.com to ask to be added to the email list.

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