One of the best—and most effective—ways to fight crime in your neighborhood is to build a strong relationship with your local police. Here are seven tips for doing that.
1) Identify your community liaison. “Every department has somebody who’s a community liaison,” says David R. Anderson, an Alexandria, Va., crime prevention consultant and co-author of Managing to Prevent Crime: A Guide for Property Managers. “It’s good to know who that person is and to build a relationship. Invite that person to your association meetings and to make a presentation. If your local police department is small, get to know the chief by asking for a meeting. Usually, there’s some problem going on, and that can be the reason for the meeting, or it can simply be a get-to-know-you meeting. Then, when a problem develops, you’ve got someone to work with. You don’t want your only contact with police to be when there’s a problem.”