Prevention Works

Celebrate Safe Communities

Celebrate Safe Communities! Whether you are planning a summer safety fair, a Neighborhood Watch expansion, or a meet and greet with local police and fire officials to keep your community safe during the summer months, the National Crime Prevention Council has a program, Celebrate Safe Communities, which offers support for your local efforts.

Celebrate Safe Communities (CSC) is crime prevention done the right way—local folks working with local law enforcement to address local issues. CSC spotlights communities’ crime prevention efforts, enhances public awareness of vital crime prevention and safety message, and recruits year-round support for ongoing prevention activities that help keep neighborhoods safe from crime and prepared for any emergency.

 

Since its inauguration in 2008, CSC has reached more than 500,000 Americans of all ages in 39 states and Washington, DC, with crime prevention messages and resources. Register your public safety event at www.celebratesafecommunities.org to join hundreds of other neighborhoods across the country working together to create safe communities.

A CSC event can be anything large or small that promotes community safety. Some communities hold block parties. Others host a neighborhood safety fair, a shredding event, or safety training program. Any effective strategy to engage your community to be proactive in reducing crime or the fear of crime or to prepare for any public safety emergency can become a CSC event.

 

Get a free website created for your organization, localize ready-to-use public service ads to promote your event, or partner with Kwikset’s home safety McGruff® Tour to help your community fight against burglary and home safety crime. These are some of the exciting incentives offered by CSC partners. Organizations that register will have access to free downloadable resources, training programs, and other resources, and the first 600 will also receive a starter kit with materials to hand out at events or to use in your agency crime prevention programs. 

Resources in the starter kit include, such items as 100 each of Neighborhood Watch Needs You booklets, Tips With Thanks from McGruff the Crime Dog® pamphlets, McGruff silly bands, and plastic bags with tips for reporting crime. Other program materials are being developed based upon feedback from 2010 CSC participants. Some new items that will be available in 2011 include templates to localize and promote your event (including some in Spanish), comic books with updated images of McGruff and his nephew Scruff, and tips sheets on current crime trends.

 

Even if you are planning a summer event, we encourage you to plan now to also participate in Crime Prevention Month in October. CSC is a year-round effort to promote the participation of all people in neighborhood safety.

CSC is brought to you by the National Crime Prevention Council in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance at the U.S. Department of Justice. CSC was developed in 2008 in partnership with the National Sheriffs’ Association to help extend your message of crime prevention and community safety.

For more information, visit www.celebratesafecommunities.org or www.ncpc.org.

Stay Alert for Cyber Crime

Over the weekend, I received an email from my godmother, saying, “sorry for the short notice, but I’m stuck in Malaysia with no passport and lost all my money; if I could help wire her some money, she’ll return it as soon as possible.” Thankfully, I disregarded this email since I just spoke to my godmother two days ago and she wasn’t planning to go anywhere. My godmother’s email was hacked into, and I would have been a victim of fraud if I actually wired money to her “account”.

Emails like this have been happening a lot lately, where some individuals weren’t as lucky as I was and actually lost their money or personal information to these criminals. This incident is just one of many forms that hackers use to harm your computers, steal your personal information, or worst a company’s information. Social networks are a major risk. There have been incidents in which company employees receive emails through Facebook stating, “Look at the picture I took of you at this event,” with a link below the statement, once the link is clicked on a virus has invaded the company’s information.

In today’s day and age we have to be aware of what is going around us. There are steps that you can take to decrease your chances of becoming a victim, and to help catch cyber-criminals at work:

• Be aware that there are people online who would like to gain access to your personal information. Do not share this information unless you have initiated the exchange or are absolutely sure of who is receiving it.
• Install security and scanning software onto your computer to protect it from online hacking.

• If you are concerned about an email you receive from a company, contact that company by phone to verify the information. If there is a web link provided in the email, type it directly into your browser instead of using the link or copying and pasting it, as some links can be redirected to other sites.
• Regularly check your credit card and bank statements and keep track of your transactions. Also, log into your online accounts frequently. This way, you will be able to notice any changes to your account soon after it happens.

For more information on staying safe from cyber crime, please visit www.ncpc.org .

When Charities Aren’t so Charitable

The tornados of 2011, Japan, Hurricane Katrina, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and Haiti: these are examples of moments when our world is halted by devastation. We can’t imagine how this happened, why it happened, and how it feels to be a victim of the disaster. Our hearts go out, and we want to help in any way that we can. Sure, we could take the time to go and physically help with the rescue and rebuild, but that requires taking time off work, finances for travel, and sometimes specialized training. One way that we can help from home is through making a donation. Often people give food, clothing, water, and money. Thankfully, many charities and organizations exist for the sole purpose of assisting those affected by natural disasters. But what happens when the charity doesn’t do what it says it will?

First, some tips on how to avoid fraudulent charities:

• Don’t open unsolicited emails. If you do happen to open an email, don’t click on any links or pictures.
• Go directly to the organization’s website, instead of doing transactions via email.
• Never give out personal or financial information over the telephone. Always request physical information or emails with instructions on how to donate to the organization.
• If you are questioning the legitimacy of an organization, do a little research to make sure that they are who they say they are. GuideStar.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging nonprofit transparency, meaning making nonprofits’ organizational budgets and staffing open to the public. “Non-profit and charitable organizations associated with disaster relief efforts should be encouraged to be transparent. The availability of information and public disclosure about charities’ operations can help stimulate oversight by donors, the media, academia, and private organizations” (Bryant, 2006).
• Though it may seem heartless, don’t always trust people that claim to be individual victims of the disaster. By donating through a trusted organization, you may not be helping that specific solicitor, but you will know that your money is going where you intended it. U.S. News & World Report wrote an article called “How to Donate Wisely,” where they mention that “online or in person, the high-pressure pitch is the scammer’s hallmark” (2010).

We know hearts are in the right place when trying to donate money to victims of disasters, but that doesn’t always mean those accepting the money have the same heart. If you feel like you have been a victim of a charity scam, report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud. If you would like to report suspicious email or internet activity, go to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). IC3’s suggestion for finding out more information about charity schemes is to go to www.lookstogoodtobetrue.com. Lastly, visit NCPC for more information and resources on how to avoid charity and other types of fraud and identity theft.