Earnest Parenting.com logo

Encouraging Heroes. You can be one too.

The safety of your home and family is of utmost importance. While you may have a slight understanding of the area you live in, chances are you are not fully informed. To ensure the safety of your family, it is best to fully know how safe your neighborhood is. Fortunately, there are a number of online resources that you can utilize. The upcoming online resources are excellent tools that will explain to you how safe your neighborhood is so that you can take the necessary steps to guaranteeing that nothing will harm your home or family.

Family Watchdog
Family watchdog is one online tool that shows you if any sex offenders live in your area. Once you input your address, a map will appear with either red, green, blue, and/or yellow boxes. Upon clicking on the boxes the name, address, picture, and offense of the convicted sex offender will appear. By using this tool you will not only be able to recognize offenders in your area, but you will also be able to gauge the safety of the neighborhood. Oftentimes, homebuyers fail to utilize this tool before buying a home, only later realizing the magnitude of how unsafe their area is.

Local Police Service
Your local police service’s website is another great tool that you should utilize. Every police department in the United States has a website that details public safety reports. These reports will have a weekly summary of nearly any police incidents, and you can even search by proximity to your home. In addition, other options on police websites are crime statistics, maps, documents, most wanted lists, and amber alerts. By using police sources you will be able to stay up-to-date on any crime that occurs in your neighborhood and the police response to such crime. Lastly, a final option involving the police is to call the department. Usually officers will be able to guide you on ways to find new information on their site or in their department.

Neighborhood Watch
If you live in a non-gated neighborhood, you probably have access to a neighborhood watch. Comprised of neighborhood residents, this group of individuals is dedicated to crime and vandalism prevention. This group that usually meets either once or a number of times a month will have the latest information about possible offenders in the neighborhood. You’ll find that being a part of the organization will provide you with a great deal of insight about neighborhood crime and prevention. Therefore, apart from neighborhood watch dog and your local police service, joining or turning to neighborhood watch is another way to go about understanding the safety of your area.

Blogs
One less popular, but possible method to understanding the safety of your neighborhood are blogs written by residents. Certain people are extra savvy and opt to write about their neighborhood’s safety situation. If a neighborhood blog or website is not available, consider starting one yourself. Not only can you keep other resident’s informed, but they can inform you if they see any suspicious activity.

Security System
Once you’ve confronted the statistics and have gained an understanding of crime in your area, you can consider methods to protecting your family. One popular and very useful method is to invest in a home security system to protect your home with. With the advanced home security system of today, you will not only be able to know if anyone has broken into your home, but you can constantly monitor it. Aside from being very well informed about crime in your neighborhood, installing a home security system is another way that you can easily ensure the safety of your home and family.

Earnest Parenting: help for parents who want to know their neighborhood.