Issue: Crime and Public Safety Date: May 7, 2004 Author: Ian K. Scharine ******************** Many were startled when Salt Lake City ranked among the top third of the country’s most crime-plagued metropolitan areas. This is no misprint. Having lived in and around the Sugarhouse area I myself have been victim to theft and vandalism, as well as personally known victims of violent crime. Although crime will exist as long as societies do, there is no reason for rates to escalate from year to year. While better budgets for law-enforcement agencies may be one way of dealing with this problem, public awareness and the individual’s capability of prevention are invaluable tools to averting or apprehending criminal activities. As opposed to putting more officers on the street, the education and familiarization of anti-crime tactics can be effective in bringing neighborhoods and communities together in their own self-interest. Something as simple as an agreement to leave a front light on at every other house on alternating nights can be enough to deter auto or property theft. A vigilant group of citizens are more likely to bring authorities to the attention of a possible crime than neighbors who just mind their own business and would rather not get involved.