Lynchburg lauded for crime prevention
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By Carrie J. Sidener
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: June 25, 2008
Preventing crime is a community endeavor and the community was recognized for that effort Tuesday afternoon.
The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services presented Mayor Joan Foster with Lynchburg’s recertification as a Certified Crime Prevention Community. Lynchburg has held that status since 2002.
“Earning the Virginia Certified Crime Prevention Community Status is an excellent report card not only for the Lynchburg Police Department, but it’s a great report card for the community as a whole,” said Maj. Parks Snead, Lynchburg’s acting police chief. “It says this community is undertaking a number of initiatives that focus on helping keep this community safe.
“Public safety is a core component of a vibrant community.”
The program sets benchmarks for localities to meet when it comes to preventing crime in their communities. It began in 1998 and was one of the first of its kind in the nation.
Lynchburg is one 14 communities in Virginia to have such a distinction. Other cities include Newport News, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, Hampton and Radford.
“It’s not just crime prevention, but safety related,” said Officer John Carey. “Our goal is to make everything a little bit safer than we found it.”
To become a certified community, Lynchburg had to meet 12 benchmarks, including:
- Having a local community crime prevention/community safety council or coalition
- Having a Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services-certified crime prevention specialist and a person on staff to conduct security and safety assessments of at-risk neighborhoods, businesses and schools
- Having a neighborhood watch program
- Distributing community safety information in the form of literature, videos and Internet resources to citizens
- Having the local law enforcement agency accredited or seeking accreditation from Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission or the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, among others
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