WHEREAS, the vitality of the City of Costa Mesa depends on how safe we keep our homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and communities; and WHEREAS, crime destroys our trust in others and civic institutions, threatening the community’s health, prosperity, and quality of life; and WHEREAS, people of all ages must be made aware of what they can do to prevent themselves and their families, neighbors, and coworkers from being harmed by crime; and WHEREAS, residents and the Costa Mesa Police Department work together to establish Neighborhood Watch Programs, currently 47 groups, around the city to reduce crime in their neighborhoods effectively; and WHEREAS, through voluntary programs such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and reporting suspicious activity to police, residents empower greater vigilance and oversight in their neighborhoods; and WHEREAS, successful crime prevention involves more than vigilance and caution; the Costa Mesa Police Department partners with residents in meaningful ways, including promoting and hosting several community events such as Coffee with a Cop, Chief Listening Tours, School Bike Rodeos, Walk to School, a 70th Birthday Open House, and a Christmas Shop with a Cop, hosting Car Safety Checks, Citizens Police Academy and Teen Academy, staffing a Community Policing Unit with a Bike Patrol Detail that engages in community outreach to residents in need of resources, and a Gang Unit with three School Resource Officers in Costa Mesa’s high schools, who conduct youth-specific outreach events to bridge gaps between at-risk youth and law enforcement; and WHEREAS, effective crime prevention programs succeed because of partnerships with law enforcement, other government agencies, civic groups, schools, faith communities, businesses, and individuals as they help to nurture communal responsibility and instill pride.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, John Stephens, Mayor of the City of Costa Mesa, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2023 as National Crime Prevention Month. I urge all residents to invest in the power of prevention and work together to make the City of Costa Mesa a safer, stronger, and more caring community.
DATED this 17th day of October 2023.
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John B. Stephens, Mayor of the City of Costa Mesa