Neighbors Take a Stand Against Crime

For the past 26 years, the non-profit organization Safe Streets has been helping residents in Tacoma and Pierce County take back their neighborhoods with a proactive stance on crime prevention.

“To date, Safe Streets has organized and trained a network of 120 community groups involving over 13,500 neighborhood leaders and 190,000 residents in high-risk neighborhoods,” said Traci Kelly, development associate at Safe Streets. “It is only through the support of our community that we are able to achieve such incredible results and help people take charge and make change in their neighborhoods.”

That’s what happened in Alex’s neighborhood. A few years ago, Alex’s neighborhood was being terrorized by a group of teens. They were egging houses, peppering cars with paintball guns, stealing mail and destroying property.

Luckily, Alex’s next door neighbors, Dave and Cathy, were Safe Streets Neighborhood Group leaders. They worked to help neighbors organize and connect with Tacoma police to find the perpetrators, who eventually were able to catch the vandals.

Stories like this are common at Safe Streets Neighborhood Group meetings, where attendees have the opportunity to meet their neighbors and learn how ordinary people can help put an end to crime in their community.

Safe Streets also takes their message into local schools. The Youth Leading Change program, which includes nine chapters in Tacoma and Pierce County high schools, aims to mold students into future community leaders by conducting prevention projects on topics including violence, substance abuse prevention and distracted driving.

For people like Jose, the leader of the Mann Neighborhood Block Watch, it is the blend of local residents and student leaders working together to improve the community that makes Safe Streets so effective.

“We have become so isolated, refusing to see beyond our own backyards,” said Jose. “That is how criminal elements take over a neighborhood. It is only when we come together and get to know and care about each other that we can start making a difference.”

Safe Streets’ prevention efforts, such as training neighbors to organize a neighborhood patrol or community clean-up, help prevent crime and cut costs associated with crime. These programs require funding, and due to cuts in the state’s budget, Safe Streets relies more than ever on the generosity of the resident’s they serve.

“For us there are no small gifts,” said Sherry Hammond, president of Safe Streets Board of Directors. “We absolutely need the support of everyday people; we wouldn’t be able to exist without them.”

For more information on how you can support Safe Streets and their youth and community based programs, visit their website at www.safest.org or call 253.272.6824.

About Safe Streets
Safe Streets Campaign is the first private, non-profit organization that unites neighbors against crime—a model for other programs nationwide. Serving Tacoma and Pierce County since 1989, Safe Streets equal a safe community. Both private and public funds support Safe Streets’ community efforts. Learn more at www.safest.org.