The Naperville Police Department’s “A Safer Naper” campaign for September is focusing on safety for all ages. What does “safety” mean to you? What steps in your everyday life do you take to stay safe? Could you be safer?
No matter your age, safety is a 24-hour-a-day commitment to keeping yourself and your loved ones away from potentially dangerous situations. Everyone should develop the habit of thinking about safety all the time. It is a state of mind that applies whether you’re at work, school, home or on vacation.
In crime prevention, we often quote Benjamin Franklin: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Simply put, it is better to avoid a potentially harmful or dangerous situation than to be forced to react to one. We can best accomplish this by being aware of our surroundings; by taking notice of the people and things around us. If something looks out of place or your intuition is telling you that something is not right, take steps to ensure your safety.
Complacency is one of our worst enemies when it comes to safety. Complacency is a false sense of security that occurs when you’ve been doing something one way for so long without incident that you assume there can never be an incident. How many times have you driven on the same street or walked the same path and nothing “bad” happens? Complacency happens to all of us. We let our guards down. We become complacent and forget to be observant to the things happening around us. We don’t think of the potential hazards and how to be safe.
How do you fight of complacency? Through vigilance and education. Stay alert and keep your guard up. Practice mental “what if” scenarios. Stay informed about potential risks or situations going on in an area and focus on the task at hand.
This month, the City of Naperville is encouraging residents to fight complacency and make safety a habit, no matter what stage of life you’re in. A good first step might be to attend one of the safety events taking place in town. The annual Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Senior conference is taking place from 8:30AM to Noon on Fri., Sept. 13, at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., and is a great resource for seniors. The Police and Fire Departments’ Public Safety Open House is scheduled from 10AM to 2PM for Sat., Sept. 21, on the Public Safety Campus at 1380 Aurora Ave.
Additional information and tips to keep yourself and your family safe at any age is available at www.naperville.il.us/asafernaper.
