Did Someone Say FREE Advertising?

So how can we expand outreach when our budgets are being cut? Did you know that many of the local papers offer free advertising for non-profit groups!

For example, the Washington Post Local Living Section:

"To submit an item E-mail fxliving@washpost.com, Mail: Volunteers, Fairfax Living, The Washington Post, 4020 University Dr., Suite 220, Fairfax, Va. 22030

Details: Items, published weekly on a space-available basis, are accepted from nonprofit groups."

To view comments on this, visit http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

Join the New Citizen Corps Facebook Group

Joing the new Citizen Corps/Neighbors Helping Neighbors Group on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizen-Corps/244273467113?ref=mf

No Cost Outreach - Volunteer Police Programs in Washington Post

Another option to saving taxpayer and grant dollars for advertising volunteer programs is to have them featured in a story in the local newspaper.

The Fairfax County volunteer police programs were featured in the Washington Post Metro Section and also appeared in the Fairfax County Times.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors first discovered this article while riding the Metro, reading the free newspapers that are handed out every morning to thousands and thousands of riders.


The complete article about their program and benefits to the community, Officers in their off-hours: inside the police auxiliary is available online.

Disaster Leadership Training - American Red Cross Takes the Lead

This past week, people across region got together at the American Red Cross National Headquarters for the National Capital Region Disaster Leadership Training Conference.

Training ranged from Disaster Action Team (DAT) training to Mass Care/Shelter Operations to Emergency Operations Center (EOC)/Emergency Support Function (ESF) #6 to Serving People with Disabilities, and many more.

Not only was the leadership training offered by the American Red Cross, but partners also taught and attended the classes.

This training is supported with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and demonstrated organizations training together to best be prepared and provide leadership before, during, and after a disaster or major emergency.

Many of the participates are not only involved with the Red Cross, but also with multiple local response organizations including the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Volunteer in Police Service (VIPS), Volunteer Mobilization Centers, etc.

The training provided an excellent opportunity for people who often take training in their local community/county to be able to also train with people in other jurisdictions and organizations.

This leadership conference should serve as a model for future training.

Picture below are some of the representatives that attended the Disaster Leadership Training Conference. The picture was taken in the American Red Cross National Headquarters Disaster Operations Center (DOC).

Fairfax County Police Programs at Risk - Citizens To Be Directly Impacted

Crime Prevention, APO, VIPS, and other Citizen Programs

At Risk Of Being Impacted

Who Will Answer The Mail?

THIS EVENT HAS

BEEN CANCELLED.

"This is your chance to let your voice be heard. Several services and programs offered by the police department have been offered up to be terminated in order to cover the projected budget shortfall. One of the many purposed cuts includes my position, Crime Prevention. This would be for each district station.

I know we have all worked hard to make Fairfax County a safe place to reside, work and visit. It is my fear that if some of these budget cuts are passed, we would be taking a giant step backward in the fight against crime.

Plan to attend one of the upcoming Community Forums to share your feelings on this matter. Speak out and let the police department and Board of Supervisors know what is important to you." (Fairfax County Crime Prevention Officer).

Please plan to attend one of the following two meetings, along with us, either tonight or tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 22, Lynbrook Elementary School, 5801 Backlick Road,Springfield, 7-9 p.m.

Thursday, October 23, Fair Oaks Church, 4601 West Ox Road, Fairfax, 7-9 p.m.

Most people have no idea what a Crime Prevention Officer does, but they are impacted. Ever send an email to the local police station? It was probably a Crime Prevention Officer that contacted you. Does your community have a Neighborhood Watch Program? That is coordinated through the station Crime Prevention Officer.

Those are just two examples.

"The primary focus of my job is to be a liaison between the citizens of the district and the officers of the Station. I wear many hats, though. The job may sound pretty tame or even lame, but that is not the case.

In actuality, I am busier now than I was when I was a detective assigned to the Criminal Investigations Section. Crime prevention is a very demanding position. Quite a bit of my time is spent with HOA and Neighborhood Watch groups. Helping them with issues that may be present in their community. I also need to stay focused on recent trends within the various patrol areas and alert the citizens to try and prevent future crimes.

On average, I get 75-100 emails a day with requests or questions. This could be from a citizen, an officer or the captain of the station. Some allow a quick response, but some require research. I am also required to attend three to four meetings a week, on average.

Then there are requests for community events. These events are usually in the evening or on a weekend. Again, some are easy to deal with while others require pre-planning.

Yes, I would still have a job if they were to cut this position. That is not an issue. I do enjoy my job. I think that the citizens would be lacking if they were to cut the crime prevention slot, though. A regular patrol officer would not be able to do justice to the program, as it would be too many responsibilities piled upon them, on top of their patrol duties. This would not be fair to that officer or the citizens.

You asked about VIPS. Unless that volunteer worked at least 40 hours a week in Crime Prevention, it would not work. There are many weeks where 60 hours are not enough to do what needs to be done. So unless you have someone without any other obligations, I just do not see it working. I am the APO and VIPS coordinator, as well. So, I know how many hours most of them contribute. There are only one or two that have a lifestyle (i.e.- retired, no kids, etc.) that would allow them to put in the hours needed to do the job. This is not something that could be worked on for a few hours each week. Someone needs to be here and remain current with requests and evolving situations.

If you wish to discuss this further, we can. There are approximately 30 areas of responsibility which my job covers. Under those areas of responsibility there are many sub-headings. An example of this would be:

Neighborhood Watch-
Training
1. Quarterly training held at the station for community members needing training
2. New Watches – help watches get started, provide training

Watch Maintenance
1. Monthly contact and documentation
2. Watch Revitalization- getting inactive Watches started back up
3. Provide new watches with signs and replace any damaged or stolen signs.

Coordinator’s Meetings

Distribution of Information to Watches (and Community as a Whole)
1. News Releases
2. Fliers

E. Address Community Concerns
1. Entering PSA Complaints
2. Meetings upon request

TRAFFIC SAFETY

A. Promote Traffic Watch Program
B. Bicycle Safety Talks/displays
C. Pedestrian Safety talks/displays
D. Aggressive Driving (Laws)
E. Seat Belt talks/displays
F. Station Programs/Initiatives
G. VIN Etching
H. Lobby displays to coordinate with the awareness month/season

So, initially it may not look like a lot on the surface, but once you go below that, there are many areas that need to be focused upon."

2008 Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards

110 Volunteers from the Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council

and Member Organizations (including CERT, VIPS, APOs)

are Fairfax County Volunteer Benchmark Awards Winners

http://www.volunteerfairfax.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=434

They will be recognized at a breakfast at the McLean Hilton

as part of National Volunteers Week, as presented by Volunteer Fairfax.

Congratulations!

And thank you to all of our volunteers!

Leap Day Emergency - Please Read

You may have made a New Years Resolution to be better prepared for an emergency in 2008. But, do you have that plan? Do you have an emergency preparedness kit?

HAVE YOU DONE NOTHING TO BE BETTER PREPARED???

Take this extra day of the year to follow a few simple steps.

The Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management and Citizen Corps Council suggests a simple four-step process for residents to prepare themselves, their communities and their businesses for naturally occuring or man-made emergencies.

Information on the process can be found at:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/oem/

If you have already taken steps to be prepared, consider helping others in the community to do the same.

Also consider the many volunteer emergency preparedness and awareness volunteer opportunities through the Fairfax County Citizen Corps Council at: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/oem/citizencorps/

What are you waiting for? Click on the links above to start taking some action today.

One Giant Leap For Mankind - Facebook

Thinking really ahead for National Preparedness month (which is when we launched this blog last year), we created a Citizen Corps Facebook Group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10287941494

For those not familiar with Facebook, check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook