This week, the London Police are hosting Crime Prevention week. The importance of this week is to educate the public and provide them with some tips on how to prevent crime from happening to them.
“It is also an opportunity for people to realize that crime does actually happen” in their neighborhoods and community, said Sergeant Chris Carne with the London Police.
And when asked why it is important that we have crime prevention week and the role it plays, Carne said, that it is about “raising some awareness to show that we can actually do a lot of things to prevent it [crime] in the first place from occurring. As opposed to reacting we can be more proactive.”
This entails things like locking the doors to your house and car, not leaving valuable belongings behind, and if you are a student going away on break take your stuff with you that criminals would want such as your phone and laptop.
However, this year, crime prevention week is looking a little different. As Carne highlights, the pandemic has made it so that the police have to be more creative in the ways in which they are trying to spread the word. They have had to resort to their social media platforms as a way to communicate and put out the messages and tips for crime prevention. In the past, they would be able to hand things out, go door to door, and talk to people in person. This is not possible this year.
Even though they cannot do things how they normally would have, it does not lessen the message. Crime is occurring and we need to be proactive to prevent it from happening.
With the pandemic, Carne says that crime prevention week could be more important this year because “some crimes could be going up or we could be more prone to crimes because there are a lot more people who are stressed or more desperate in these times.”
If you are concerned or looking for some tips on how to prevent crime, the London Police are putting out some tips and messages on all of their social media platforms- Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. As we as hosting a live Q&A on Thursday November 5 from 1-2 pm.
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