Welcome to the SECOND June 2006 Issue!

This is the Fifth (June 2006 - Issue 2) Community Safety/Security Newsletter for people who are interested in making their homes, families, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities safer.  This is the first opportunity we have had to get two newsletters out in a single month and I would love to get your feedback on it. Is this too much information? Still not enough? Let us know! We'll have a poll up early next month that will let you vote.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone that you think would benefit from information about community safety and security. That includes your family, friends, others in the business, etc.

Once again, we have no new e-books, although we are very close to releasing “Maintiendo Nuestras Vecindades a Salvo” in e-book format (halfway through with the final edit.) It is the Spanish Translation of “Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe.”

As always, thanks for helping us make the world just a little safer!

-Stephen

The Right Tool for the Right Job

by Stephen R. Melvin, PE CSP

I can't wait to see them on the road. They're those new armored fire engines with guns on them, so that they can be use by the police if the emergency is a riot rather than a fire. In a perfect world of holistic emergency preparedness, every tool could be used for every emergency. But how many companies are really producing fire engines with guns? Or squad cars with hose reels?

A holistic approach does not mean that you can only buy materials that cover every aspect of emergencies and every kind of emergency. There are three ways to make your emergency planning process comprehensive. The first is to make sure that your approach includes the right tools in your toolbox. You've got firefighters who need pieces of equipment that throw water on fires. Your police will most likely not need that equipment. On the other hand, if your firefighters are carrying guns into a blaze, you have some serious problems.

Recent and Upcoming Events

CONFERENCES

The National Institute for Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism Preparedness conference has been postponed to August 27-30.  This year's theme is "School Safety", and Stephen has been asked to speak not only his original topic of Neighborhood Safety, but also to give the keynote presentation to discuss the importance of a holistic approach to Emergency Preparedness and Response planning and training.  He will be covering the basics of the five big items: Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and  Mitigation. If you would like to sponsor copies of Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe for the conference, or if you know someone who might be interested in doing so, please contact us. 

The Continuing Challenge Hazardous Materials Conference will be in September of this year in Sacramento. More information can be found at: http://www.hazmat.org/

The Public Agency Risk Manager's Association (PARMA) Conference will be next February in Monterey, CA. More information is available at: http://www.parma.com/index.cfm?pageid=545

The Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association (RETA) Conference will be in Dallas, TX this October. More information is available at: http://www.reta.com/convention/2006/RETA_2006_convention_reg_pkt_6-4-06.pdf.

If you are planning a conference or other event and would like Stephen to appear, please call us at (951) 764-3626 or email us at: info@oursafetowns.com.

GRANTS

It's time again for HMEP grant applications in California (and possibly elsewhere?) Every jurisdiction has a different application process, so check with your local jurisdiction if you are interested. We are interested in teaming with community agencies (fire, water, health, police, etc.) to develop programs that leverage these grants to get community safety and security training to agencies and to the public. The grants are for programs that deal with transportation and hazardous materials, so if your agency has hazardous materials in the area and a form of transportation (rail, air, road, etc.), and would like to leverage your agency funds to help make people safer, please contact us. We are currently in discussions with agencies in LEPC II and I, and are in the process of developing a grant that should apply statewide. If you are in another LEPC (or would like to work with us on the ones in those LEPC's) please contact us ASAP so that we can include you.

TRAINING CLASSES

Congressman Rohrabacher's office (in Orange/LA County) is still sponsoring regular classes on anti-terrorism topics. If you would like more information on these classes, please let us know.

What lies ahead?

Useful Information

In 2001, the Federal Trade Commission stated that ID Theft was it's number one source of complaints. With the recent loss of personal data by the Veteran's Administration, this is an excellent time to make sure that everyone knows how to protect themselves, so the Federal Trade Commission's website on identity theft is:

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

For more resources, please visit our resources page at:
http://www.oursafetowns.com/resources.htm

If you have suggestions for safety or security resources, please let us know so that we can include them.

Safety Tip

Inventory your first aid kit and replace anything that is out of date.