Making Safer Neighborhoods

By Craig J. De Luz, Sr.

Public Safety is not a luxury, but a basic right. However, in order to exercise this right, it is up to the government, law enforcement and us residents to all do our part.

1. THE GOVERNMENT- Public safety is one of the principle reasons for the existence of government and thus should be amongst it's top priorities. Thus, funding for this function should take precedence over most other things. Included in this function is funding for police, fire protection and other miscellaneous infrastructure to make our citizens safer. This includes streetlights. Our neighborhood streets are not well lit at all. One can walk several blocks in a residential neighborhood in almost complete darkness. This allows criminals to do operate out of the sight of watchful eyes. This puts our property and our citizens at risk.

AS YOUR CITY COUNCILMAN, I will make increasing funding for more police officers in our community my top budgetary priority. I will also seek out additional funds from the city and other sources to improve the lighting of the streets in District 2.

2. LAW ENFORCEMENT- Community Policing is a fairly new concept to the law enforcement culture. Many have jumped on board willingly, while others have had to be dragged into involvement. None the less, their efforts have proven to be a success throughout the city. We must further expand this effort to include participation in all areas of the community.

AS YOUR CITY COUNCILMAN, I will promote involvement "Adopt a School" and "Adopt a Park" programs amongst our law enforcement officers in order create a stronger relationship between them and the community residents.

3. RESIDENTS- if we are to take back our streets, WE MUST lead the effort. The police can not be everywhere, therefore we must be willing to be their eyes and ears in the community.

AS YOUR CITY COUNCILMAN, I will lead the fight to take back our streets. I will recruit neighborhood watch leaders and work with community organizations to organize and mobilize the people. We will seek to chase the street walkers and drug dealers from Del Paso Blvd.. We will organize phone-in campaigns to the police to rid our neighborhoods of those who promote petty crimes in our neighborhoods.