CAPS BEAT 1431

1. Put your address behind your house to help plice and fire department.
2. Keep your porch light on.
3. Install motion detector lights on side and rear of house.
4. Graffiti: Call 311 or clean it up yourself. Also, contact Alderman Flores Office of the 1st Ward (773) 278-0101
5. Abandonded cars: Call 311
6. Vacant lot cleanup: CAll 311
7. Abandoned/vacant buildings: Call 311
8. Street/alley lights out: Call 311
9. When Calling 311, get a SR# (Service Request Number) so, you can call back and followup.
10. Get together with your neighbors and discuss your area's problems.
11. Burglary: Secure your house or apartment.
12. Car theft/Breakins: do not leave anything in view.
13. Keep the calls to 911 coming! Stopping the drug sales and gang activity even temporarily is one of our best tools. Plus it keeps the police aware that we are having problems.

• If you call 911 and do not get an immediate response, do not hang up and call again. This will only further delay your call. In the majority of cases, calls are answered on the first ring. However, during high volume periods, you may experience a slight delay. When all operators are busy, calls will be answered in the order they are received.
• Ambulances are sent out for emergency situations only. Minor illnesses or routine medical visits will be referred to private ambulance services. The City does charge for ambulance services, but individuals will not be turned down solely on the basis that their insurance will not cover the cost.
• If you request an ambulance and the nearest one is over 18 blocks away, a Fire Department vehicle will be dispatched to your location to provide basic services until the paramedics arrive.
• Calls to the Police Department are answered on a priority basis. Situations that involve threat to life, bodily injury, or major property damage or loss are the highest priorities. Calls of this nature are answered in 10 minutes or less.
  Second priorities include situations that are not life threatening, do not involve injuries or major destruction to property or the crime is no longer in progress. If your call falls under this category, the Police Department will respond as soon as possible.
• It is important to provide as much information on your situation as possible. Operators ask questions regarding the persons or autos involved in an accident. If you request an ambulance, the operator will inquire about your medical history. The more information you provide, the easier and faster it is for dispatchers to get services to you.
• When calling 911, if you wish to remain anonymous, please indicate that at the beginning of your call.
• If you call 911 from a cellular phone, operators will ask your name, approximate location and the telephone number of your cellular phone. It is very important to give this information, because operators cannot pick up your exact location on a cellular phone.
• You should use 311, the City's non-emergency line in situations that do not involve a crime in progress or an immediate threat to life, bodily injury, or major property damage or loss. By using 311, residents help free up phone lines for true emergency calls. However, if you have any doubt, call 911!

• Always try to park in well-lit, heavily traveled areas, as close to your destination as possible.
• When you park, always roll the windows up tight, lock all doors, and take the keys with you.
• Never leave your car with the motor running, even if only for a minute to run into a store or your home.
• Never hide spare keys in a secret place or in a magnetic key box under the hood. Car thieves routinely check the visors and ash trays, and look under floor mats for keys. If you feel better with spare keys close at hand, carry them with you in separate locations.
• Some thieves use tow trucks to take cars. To avoid being towed by a thief, turn your wheels toward the curb and apply your emergency brake.
• Leave your car in gear or park. When parking a front-wheel-drive car, place your vehicle in park and apply the emergency brake. If you have a stick shift, put the gear into forward or reverse and apply the emergency brake.
• If you have a garage, use it. Lock both your car and the garage.
• Avoid leaving your automatic garage door opener in your car. Don't make it easy for a thief who enters your garage through a side door and breaks into you car to get the vehicle out.
• Keep your vehicle's title at home, not in the glove compartment of your car. This will prevent a thief from using the title to "prove" he owns the car.
• Check periodically to ensure that your vehicle identification number (VIN) is intact. This is a small metal plate, usually by the driver's side, where the dashboard and windshield meet.
• Consider etching your VIN into all car windows, T-tops, and other expensive, removable parts. This will help the police identify stolen auto parts.
• Drop your business card or other identifier down the window slot into the door panel. This may assist police in identifying a stolen vehicle or stolen parts.
• Carry a card listing your license plate number, VIN, engine type, and body style. Relay this information to the police quickly if your car is stolen.
• Install locks that deter thefts. Tapered door locks, for example, keep thieves from using coat hangers to open car doors.
• Install and activate anti-theft devices. These include fuel cutoff or ignition kill switches that make the vehicle inoperable; sensors and motion detectors; computerized tracking transmitters; steering column locks; etc. Your insurance company may offer discounts on your comprehensive coverage for installing certain devices.
• If you see someone tampering with your vehicle, use discretion about approaching the person. He or she may be armed. Instead, call 911 and inform the call taker that you are reporting an auto theft "in progress."
• When selling a vehicle, don't let a stranger take it for a test drive alone. If a prospective buyer wants to take the car to a mechanic for an appraisal, volunteer to deliver and pick up the car.
• When buying a used car, be certain that the seller's name and address are verified and be sure that the VIN on the registration card is the same as the one on the car.