COLUMN: Crime prevention services ECSO offers

Submitted photo.

Ellis County Sheriff Johnny Brown.

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office makes available a number of programs through its Crime Prevention Division, whose mission is to bridge the gap between our agency and the community we serve. We want to take this opportunity to ensure you’re aware of the different programs we offer that can help make yourselves, your families, your businesses and your homes less susceptible to crime.

The Sheriff’s Office has five crime prevention specialists who provide the programs that accomplish this purpose. We encourage people to familiarize themselves with what we offer – and to contact us if we can be of any assistance to you.

By educating our community on crime prevention techniques, home safety inspections and by involving the community more in crime prevention activities, we know that we can reduce the number of crimes in Ellis County and increase the quality of life for residents. We know it’s an effective course of action because – with your participation and help – we’ve had a 60-percent reduction in the volume of Part 1 crimes from 2008 to present.

Here’s a list of the programs our Crime Prevention Specialists are more than happy to schedule with you:

General Presentation – This summary program urges neighbors to join with the criminal justice system to help them become less vulnerable targets for criminals. Speaking to civic organizations, church groups, neighborhood associations, service clubs and other groups about the problem of residential burglary, our staff encourages those attending to host Neighborhood Watch organizing meetings for their neighborhoods.

Sexual Assault and Women’s Safety – Usually presented to groups of females (but available to anyone), this program discusses personal safety in general, with emphasis on sexual assault and rape prevention. Types of rapists are discussed along with recommended safety measures and prevention techniques. Date rape, rape crisis intervention and related matters are included in the presentation.

Children’s Crime Prevention Program – Using McGruff the Crime Dog and other characters, this program educates elementary-age children regarding basic matters relating to crime and safety. Subjects covered include securing your belongings, home burglary, telephone caution, personal safety and child abuse victimization. Children are then invited to help McGruff “Take a Bite out of Crime.”

Bullying – This program is geared towards today’s youth on how to identify and prevent bullying in their schools.

Home Inspections – You could receive up to a 10-percent discount just by having one of our specialists come out and perform a safety inspection on your residence.

Mobile Community Theft Awareness Program – In this program our specialists periodically saturate your neighborhoods looking for situations that can attract criminals.

National Night Out – A national program that joins communities together in a stand against crime.

Identity Theft Program – This is to educate citizens on ways to protect their most valued information.

Church Safety Seminars – This program is designed to provide churches with knowledge to better protect their congregations.

In addition to these programs, we also want to remind everyone about a free serial number registry service for the public’s use that can be accessed via our website at www.elliscountysheriff.com by clicking on “Serial Number Registry,” which is listed under the “Other Information” header on the lower left-hand rail. This will take you to a webpage that explains the program and contains a link to the “ReportIt” site, where you can sign up for a personal account.

To help keep you apprised of the different activities of your Sheriff’s Office, please visit our website at elliscountysheriff.com or our Facebook page, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.

As always, the Sheriff’s Office asks that you keep our military and service personnel in our thoughts and prayers. We enjoy all of our rights and freedoms because of their service and safekeeping of our great nation. Y’all have a Blessed Week from your Sheriff’s Office.