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Vice Mayor Greg Stanton's
North Central News Column
July 2003
Partnering to keep our businesses safe
Small business is the backbone of our local economy. Just as we put a great deal of time and resources into fighting crime in our neighborhoods, we must be equally vigilant in fighting crime affecting the businesses in our community. The Phoenix Police Department has taken this challenge seriously and has created a program called Safe Business Network. As a member of the Public Safety Subcommittee, I support the department's efforts.
Though the amount of criminal activity reported by businesses is too high, the Safe Business Network is designed to help reduce these statistics. Just as block watches in our neighborhoods have been effective, the Safe Business Network can have the same positive effect for businesses in our community.
The Safe Business Network started in 2000 to reduce crime that occurs at businesses through education and increased awareness and communication and ongoing support. Detective David Lake, charged with administering this important program, said, "There can be a dramatic reduction in crime when the victim's awareness is raised." Lake said that this type of crime requires a live, human response on-sight instead of a cookie-cutter program.
The program organizes business districts into groups for mutual support and crime suppression efforts. These groups are then teamed with situation crime prevention support which addresses specific problems based on business type and location. There are two main components of the program, Web-based and people-based. The Web-based portion includes a crime prevention "toolbox," which includes literature and tips, a comprehensive database of participating businesses, crime trend and crime alert notifications, real time surveys, and enhanced communications with precinct and area commanders as well as detectives and beat officers.
The people-based portion of the program includes the Police Department and stakeholders and community partners such as the Fire Department. Lake says these business crime prevention partnership meetings have nearly 100 percent attendance. They empower business owners and managers through education, seminars and training.
The Police Department is expected to launch the expanded program with a complete Web site,
www.phoenix.gov/safebiz, in September. I encourage businesses to organize by location or region to start the important dialogue of crime prevention, reduction and awareness. We all want Phoenix to be a safe place to work, live and play, and it is through programs like the Safe Business Network that we can get closer to that goal.
For questions about this program, please contact Detective Lake at (602) 262-7692 .
As always, if you have comments or questions about this program or any other issue, please feel free to call me anytime at 602-262-7491 or send e-mail to greg.stanton@phoenix.gov.
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