Publications

Child Safety

• Child ID/DNA Kit
  A Child ID Kit enables parents to provide immediate and essential information for the search, recovery and rescue of a missing child. Keeping complete and up-to-date records of your child is critical when supplying information to law enforcement …
• Creating Safer Schools
  When crime, drugs, and violence spill over from the streets into the schools, a safe learning environment becomes increasingly difficult. Violence seems to become an acceptable way to settle conflicts …
• Bullying
  Bullying behavior may seem rather insignificant compared to kids bringing guns to school and getting involved with drugs. Bullying is often dismissed as part of growing up. But it's actually an early form of aggressive, violent behavior …
• Family Vacation
  Traveling safely with your family also means sticking together and keeping an eye on your children at all times. Make sure they know where you are staying (name and address), and teach them what to do if they get lost or separated …
• Safe Halloween
  Halloween may be a fun holiday for kids, but for parents, trick-or-treat time can be a little scary. Concerns about children’s safety can cast a spell on the evening’s festivities. But not to worry! Following a few safety tips …
• Streetwise Teens
  Teens are the age group most vulnerable to crime. But putting into practice some basic crime prevention tips can help you and your friends avoid becoming the victims of crime …

Drugs

• Alcohol
  Alcohol is the number one drug of choice for teenagers; Alcohol-related car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in the United States; Alcohol is the number one drug problem in America …
• Inhalants
  Inhalant abuse can kill. And if it doesn't kill you, it can leave you with severe brain damage or severe respiratory problems. Even a first-time user can end up dead after "sniffing" or "huffing" inhalants …
• Marijuana
  Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa …
• Methamphetamine
  "Meth," "speed," "chalk," "ice," "crystal," "crank," and "glass" are street terms for a man-made drug called methamphetamine. This white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder can be smoked, snorted, injected, or swallowed …
• Smoking
  Cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable disease and illness and premature mortality death worldwide …
• Talking to Kids about Drugs
  Don't put off talking to your children about alcohol and other drugs. As early as fourth grade, kids worry about pressures to try drugs. Parents must become involved, but most parents aren't sure how to tell their children about drugs …

Personal Safety and Fraud Prevention

• Crime Prevention for People with Disabilities
  A physical disability, impaired vision, hearing, or mobility, doesn't prevent you from being a victim of crime. Common sense actions can reduce your risk …
• Family Violence
  Most people, when beaten or intimidated by someone in their own family, feel helpless, afraid, embarrassed, and guilty. These emotions, plus a belief that what happened was not really a crime, often keep victims from taking any action …
• Identity Theft
  Identity theft or identity fraud is the taking of a victim's identity to obtain credit, credit cards from banks and retailers, steal money from a victim's existing accounts, apply for loans, establish accounts with utility companies …
• Protecting Personal Information
  E-mail, the Internet, automated teller machines (ATM), computer banking, even credit cards make our lives more efficient. However, as our lives become more integrated with technology, keeping our private information confidential becomes more difficult …
• Managing Conflict
  Anger leads to conflict, produces stress, hurts friendships, and can lead to violence. We can't always avoid anger or conflict, but we can learn to manage it without violence …
• Safer Seniors
  As people grow older, their chances of being victims of crime decrease dramatically. However, they need to be more alert to frauds and con games …
• Telephone Scams
  Telephones are also prone to fraud. Don’t be a victim. Educate yourself about phone fraud, and know how to spot—and prevent—a telephone scam …

Property Security and Watch Programs

• Business Watch
  A crime prevention program that enlists the active participation of business owners and employees, in cooperation with law enforcement, to reduce crime in
  their communities…
• Home Security
  Many burglars will spend no longer than 60 seconds trying to break into a home. Good locks - and good neighbors who watch out for each other - can be big deterrents to burglars…
• Neighborhood Watch
  Neighborhood Watch is one of the most effective and least costly ways to prevent crime and reduce fear. It forges bonds among area residents, helps reduce burglaries and robberies, and improves relations between law enforcement and the communities they serve …
• Realtor Watch
  A safety awareness program for real estate agents with suggestions for previewing and showing properties, open houses, and personal security measures to remember...
• Rural Crime Prevention
  Rural communities have their own unique crime problems - like theft of livestock and expensive farm equipment. Vandals do more than break mailboxes, they can destroy crops and fields …
• Starting a Neighborhood Watch Program
  You will need: a person or group of people committed to starting a Neighborhood Watch; a list of what issues initially need to be addressed in your community; a means of communicating with the residents, e.g., e-mail, fliers …
• Vehicle Theft
  Never leave your car running or the keys in the ignition when you're away from it, even for "just a minute;” always roll up the windows and lock the car; never leave valuables in plain view, even if your car is locked …

Technology

• Cell Phone Laws
  Operating a motor vehicle while using a cell phone can result in erratic driving, traffic accidents, injuries, and even death.
  
  Cell Phone Safety
  Tips for Talking, Texting, and Sending Messages: Send appropriate text, email, or picture messages only; do not give out your address or other personal information on a phone call, text, or email to people you don’t know …
• Cyberbullying
  Online bullying, called cyberbullying, happens when teens use the Internet, cell phones, or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person …
• Family Internet Use
  Using the Computer Is a Family Affair: Agree on a list of rules and post it by the computer. The rules should cover how long children can spend on the Internet, how late they can surf the Web, what they may and may not visit on the Web …
• Safe Surfing
  Cyberspace is a gigantic community of millions, where people research information for school, learn about movies, shop, listen to music, watch video clips, even develop sites of their own. As in any community, there are people and places you should avoid to reduce your crime risk …
• Sexting
  Sexting, sending sexually explicit text or photographs from mobile devices. Once the photos are sent, they can be used to bully, harass, intimidate, or embarrass victims online or via mobile devices …
• Social Networking
  Social media, where people go online to chat with their friends, make new friends, and exchange information. Their purpose is to bring people closer together. When used responsibly, these sites present wonderful social opportunities …