Community Safety/Security Newsletter


	Community Safety/Security Newsletter - July 2006 (Issue 1)	PO Box 891993 Temecula, CA 92589-1993 (951) 764-3626

Welcome to the FIRST July 2006 Issue!

This is the Sixth (July 2006 - Issue 1) Community Safety/Security Newsletter for people who are interested in making their homes, families, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities safer. We are still working on getting that poll up for you, and are hoping to get others up to allow you to choose topics for future articles.

This month we are starting off with an article on ReadyOC, a new emergency preparedness initiative in Orange County, CA.

For those of you who have missed some of our past newsletters, they are all now on the website at: Newsletters.

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

-Stephen

ReadyOC - a New Preparedness Initiative in Orange County, CA

by Jeanne Meehan

In July, the Cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and 18 Orange County government agencies and cities announced the launch of the ReadyOC campaign – the County’s largest public education initiative to date raising awareness of the need to be ready for any type of emergency – whether a natural disaster, health epidemic or man-made threat. The campaign also launched its website, www.ReadyOC.org, and access to “ReadyOC: Your Guide to Emergency Preparedness”, an informational brochure for businesses and residents.

At the heart of the ReadyOC campaign is a call to action for businesses and residents to be prepared with a communications plan and an emergency supply kit, be aware of emergencies that may affect Orange County and be involved in preparedness by informing neighbors and employees of the need to prepare. By working together, everyone can make a difference in creating awareness, motivating preparedness and encouraging involvement.

Continued...

Recent and Upcoming Events

CONFERENCES

The National Institute for Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism Preparedness conference has been cancelled and no new dates have been set. I was looking forward to seeing some of you there, but we'll have to make it to a different event.

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. His bio and information are available here.

TRAINING MATERIALS

A major Southern California city recently purchased 1,000 copies of Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe for their Fire Safety Day to give to community members. Thanks to everyone who is helping us to train their employees, the public and local agencies on the basics of community safety and security. We are also working with the Public Agency Risk Managers Association to provide copies for their conference next February.

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.

Buy Now!

What lies ahead?

Maintiendo Nuestras Vecindades A Salvo (the Spanish Translation of Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe) is out! It has been posted to the shopping cart website in e-book format. We are maintaining the same price for the Spanish translation as the English edition: $3.95. If you have a large Spanish-speaking population in your group, and would like to download multiple copies for them, please contact us directly so that we can provide you with bulk pricing.

We will be putting Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe in e-book format on the website in the very near future. How to C.O.P.E With Terrorism is still available to e-newsletter members for free. For directions on downloading it, please see the "What lies ahead?" section of the April Newsletter at: April 2006.

Keeping Our Schools Safe is moving along. We have reviewers for a Public School Board, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a Local Office of Emergency Services. Additionally, we have a Private School principal, and 2 school emergency response officials (from different school districts.) We are still looking for a Private School Diocese, Police, Fire, Public Health, a Public School Superintendent, a Public School Teacher, a Public School Teacher's Union President, and a PTA/PTO president. Please contact us if you feel that you can contribute, or if you know someone who might be interested.

See you next month!

Buy Now!

Useful Information

In the DHS WMD Awareness Level Course (AWR-160) that we teach, the steps for dealing with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) are as follows:

1. Recognize – an improvised explosive device can look like anything from a vehicle to an envelope.

2. Avoid – Stay away from an object if you don't know what it is. A good rule of thumb is that if you can see a device, it can see you.

3. Isolate – Keep other people away from the object. Set up a perimeter to keep people out until law enforcement arrives.

4. Notify – Call security or the police if you see an object out of place. They would rather respond to a false call than fail to respond to a real one.

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

Call your local police/sheriff department and find out how they want you to report if you see a “potential threat indicator” (something which could be a terrorist threat)