Homeland Security > H.A.N.D.S.S. > Prepare Your Community

• Be alert. Get to know your neighbors. Be aware of unusual or abandoned packages or vehicles and of suspicious activities that should be reported to the police.

• Develop a list of emergency services and their phone numbers and addresses. Include shelters, food banks, police and fire departments and distribute the list to your neighbors.

• Find out about community emergency plans. What plans do your schools have in place? What plans are in place where you work?

• Make sure schools and workplaces have updated emergency contact information for your family. Include a portable phone number if you have one.

• Check on the school emergency plan for any school-age children you have. You need to know if your children will be kept at school until a parent or designated adult can pick them up or send them home on their own.

• Make a plan to meet up with family members if an emergency happens while your family is separated. Establish an out-of-town contact, such as a friend or relative, to whom everyone can call and report. Make sure the contact agrees and that everyone has the number and knows how to dial it. Consider prepaid calling cards and emergency contact lists for your children. Identify places to meet both close to home and some distance away.

• Plan for what you may need if you are away from home during an emergency. Keep water, a blanket and non-perishable food in your car. Always keep your fuel tank at least half full. Remember that if electricity is interrupted, gas pumps do not work.

• Do your part. Research organizations in your community, such as places of worship, schools, fire departments and the Red Cross that work on preparedness efforts. Find out what you can do and volunteer to do it. Feel free to start your research right here with the LVMPD Metro Volunteer Program!

• Join, start or reinvigorate a Neighborhood Watch program. Find out if your area has a Neighborhood Watch group or community association and join. Neighborhood Watch is a great way for you to share the information in this booklet and develop neighborhood plans.

Tips for spotting suspicious activities in your neighborhood

• A stranger entering your neighbor's house while they are away.

• Anyone peering into or forcibly entering a locked vehicle.

• Unusual sounds like breaking glass, gunshots, or screaming.

• Open or broken windows at a closed business or residence.

• Parked, occupied vehicles - especially if seen at an unusual hour.

• An unfamiliar vehicle left running, parked and unoccupied on your street.

• Anyone removing accessories, license plates or gasoline from a vehicle.

• Strange or frequent comings and goings from homes or businesses.

• Business transactions being conducted from a vehicle.

REMEMBER - PEOPLE AREN'T SUSPICIOUS, BEHAVIOR IS 

Metro Volunteer Program
Neighborhood Watch