Crime Prevention Month

Since 1984, the National Crime Prevention Council has designated October as Crime Prevention Month...

By Annie Piekarczyk / Beacon Media

Since 1984, the National Crime Prevention Council has designated October as Crime Prevention Month. Every year since then, businesses, governmental agencies, civic groups and schools across the nation have devoted October to raise crime awareness and prevention practices. Last week, Milton City Council members Tina D’Aversa and Alan Tart presented a proclamation declaring October in Milton as Crime Prevention Month as well.

While the FBI recently released the 2008 US Crime Report which said the number of violent crimes across the nation is down for the second consecutive year, crime prevention is still as important as ever. In order to keep crime statistics down, crime prevention and awareness is crucial to keeping communities safe.

Councilman Alan Tart said October will be a month to reach out and educate the public. “Part of the month,” said Tart, “is to raise awareness about crime prevention and important issues such as victimization, volunteerism and creating safer and more caring communities.”

The vitality of Milton depends on how safe the community is. Tart explained that with one of the most responsive police forces in the state, Milton should still be aware of the dangers of crime and how citizens can protect themselves from becoming victims.

Some crime prevention initiatives include not only self-protection and security, but also a collaborative effort among the community to keep neighborhoods safe. Tart said he hopes that in the 2010 fiscal budget, the city will have enough money to hire a crime prevention officer so the city may have a full-fledged public safety program. “[So we may be] a leader in forming neighborhood watch programs in the city, which I think we need badly,” said Tart.

Mayor Joe Lockwood commended City Manager Chris Lagerbloom for being the city’s one and only public safety director. “I can only imagine [what it must have been like] for these guys to start from scratch and build a brand new safety department. They have done a great job,” he said.

Young residents of Milton show exemplary attitudes and dedication

Last Monday at Milton’s City Council meeting, Karen Thurman and the rest of the City Council recognized and honored two young softball enthusiasts Caitlin Davies and Heather Kipness for their charity work in support of Camp Kudzu. Camp Kudzu is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a network and educational environment for diabetic children in Georgia.

As Councilwoman Thurman put it, “In today’s time, what we usually hear on the news regarding young adults are the problems they’ve gotten into. [However] this is a wonderful story of two young girls who decided to do something that benefited a lot of other kids.”

Heather, herself a diabetic, and her best friend Caitlin Davies, put together a softball tournament called Camp Kudzu Classic. The tournament benefited and funded other children with Type I diabetes to go to Camp Kudzu.

The two girls, Davies and Kipness, sought to combine their passion for softball with the goal of raising money to support Camp Kudzu. Their dedication and enthusiasm led to a successful tournament in June, where 32 teams played against each other, and $5,000 was raised in support of their cause.

Councilwoman Julie Zahner-Bailey was extremely proud of the two young girls. “I’ve had the privilege of teaching these young ladies, and their enthusiasm for each other, and their enthusiasm for life and for who they are as young people is contagious.”