Having to walk through a dark park every day? Drivers in your neighborhood going too fast and you want a speed bump there? Lots of stray animals in your area? You have an idea how to solve these problems and make your home safer but don’t know where to start? See our short guide on how to find like-minded people and launch a security initiative together.

 

FIND OUT YOUR NEIGHBORS’ CONCERNS

Talking to your neighbors and other members of your local community will help you understand what security concerns they have. To begin with, write down a list of issues that you find especially relevant and go talk to the locals. It may turn out they are bothered by other things than those on your list, but never reject their ideas nor let it discourage you. The broader the picture of security issues, the easier it will be for you to find supporters and seek further solutions. It is necessary to know what is important for the community, as your end goal is security for all.

 

WORK ON PRIORITY ISSUES FIRST

By interviewing the locals, you will find out their opinions on various issues, but in order identify the most important ones, you’ll need to meet in a different format - face-to-face with all those interested. For instance, you can organize a meeting with neighborhood residents, or meet for a cup of coffee, and use this opportunity to vote on top priority issues and potential solutions for them.

One of the most important aspects of your neighborhood survey is finding out what the words security and danger mean to each resident. Some might consider stray dogs a danger, others, who are not afraid of dogs, could name poor street lighting or air pollution. Different people have different opinions, while the results should satisfy everyone. Thus, the most urgent problems, which could hinder further efforts if ignored, should be resolved first.

 

STUDY THE CONTEXT 

Perhaps a problem similar to yours has already been resolved in another community. Their experience will come in handy, but as effective it may appear, it may not work in your community.

Any detail could be important, depending on whether you live in a front line city or near the border, in a mountainous area or near resorts. Thus, even if you find a solution to one of your problems in another community, there will still be nuances that will require you to adjust your project, so you might end up with a different initiative altogether.

 

BE PRAGMATIC 

The urgency of an issue should be corroborated by facts. Thus, those advocating for addressing a specific problem by using specific measures should provide arguments for the issue’s importance. Therefore, it is necessary to base your decisions on specific data, testimonies, examples and verified information.

To accurately gauge the scale of an issue, you should obtain the necessary information, say, statistics, from appropriate authorities.

You will find the law of Ukraine On Access to Public Information of help here, as it allows any citizen to request this information from the authorities. You should also have a photo or video that confirms the existence of the problem, as well as its description and the testimony of your neighbors regarding its specific manifestations or negative consequences. So arm yourself with a smart phone and imagine yourself a detective on the lookout for evidence - just remember to act within the bounds of the law.

THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A ONE MAN ARMY

Don’t worry if you fail to involve everyone you wanted in the discussion and implementation of your initiative. In the beginning, two or three people is enough to hold the initial discussion with other stakeholders, such as with those responsible for a park or green space near your home, or with representatives of a nearby educational institution or supermarket. The experience of other communities suggests that when fewer people work on a security initiative, this does not affect the quality of changes in the community. The main thing here is smooth coordination of the whole process.

 

PARTNER UP WITH THE POLICE AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES 

An important prerequisite for implementing you initiative efficiently is interaction and communication with the police and local self-government. If these three parties understand the problem and agree on the proposed solution, it’s easier to engage others (such as investors or donors). In addition, the police and local authorities might be better informed than you about what government body is responsible for what, and who else should be involved in the subsequent stages of the project. In a word, they could help you with networking. You can begin talking to the police on the website of the project Cooperation between the Police and the Public, or talk to a public relations officer of your city police department directly. As for local self-government bodies, you can meet them in person, for instance, by attending a city council meeting or sending them an e-mail through the official website of your rayon state administration.

ASSESS THE RISKS

At some point of the planning stage, you may encounter such objections as "it's not the right time" or "we don’t have the funds for this". That is why it’s important to communicate the value of your solution to the local authorities.

At this point, you should estimate the cost of failing to address the problem for your community, both in the short term and the long term. These could be economic costs or human losses - material damage (theft in a poorly lit neighborhood), deaths due to poorly lit and equipped railway crossings in villages, or even the prospect of population degradation due to the lack of cultural recreation areas.

Also, bring up the benefits. For instance, safe neighborhoods attract people, and the more people there are, the more developed the infrastructure is going to be.

 

STICK TO THE PLAN 

It's always better to plan your actions in the context of problem solving. This will help you understand the current state of your project and keep it effective. Describe in your plan all objectives and those responsible for achieving them, and also set the deadlines for each of the objectives.

 

SEEK OUT FUNDS 

When undertaking a security initiative (which could be anything from street lighting, CCTV, sidewalk renovation, self-defense training for women or police sign language), you should create a map of all stakeholders, including organizations and business. It could be a university, factory or local office of the State Agency of Roads of Ukraine, as well as associations of apartment building tenants, an NGO or the neighboring united territorial community. This map will be unique, depending on whom you choose as consumers of security (your target audience) and whom  - as security providers.

There’s also the Public Budget program, which allows people to take part in the allocation of local budget funds by starting projects aimed at improving their city/united territorial community and/or voting for them.

MAKE YOUR AGREEMENTS INTO DOCUMENTS 

Communities often sign memorandums of cooperation with the police on specific joint initiatives. These documents can be multilateral and are usually drawn up with the help of lawyers (so ask around - one of your neighbors could be a lawyer). For a community, a memorandum is a guarantee that the police will make good on their promises, and for the police - that people won’t demand things that aren’t part of their professional duties.

These simple steps will be useful to you for improving security near your home. For inspiration in your search for solutions, we encourage you to take a look at the experience of other communities. And remember  - security is a joint effort.