Corporate Intrigue!

There is a documentary film making its way around the country entitled "Addiction Incorporated". The movie tells the story of Victor DeNoble, a former Phillip Morris employee, hired to find a safe substitute to nicotine. He later became one of the first whistleblowers. You can see a trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ipXyvIryD8o

Good news! the film is coming here too.
On Thursday, May 24th, "Addiction Incorporated" will be shown at the Scera Theater in Orem at 7PM. More good news: admission is free.
The movie itself is rated PG13 for brief language but take your teens and preteens. They need to see this. They need to understand what drives this industry.

Earthquake Drill

Only two months and eight days until a statewide earthquake drill called the Great Utah ShakeOut on April 17, 2012. Schools, businesses, individuals, and families are encouraged to participate by holding their own drills on that day. Watch a YouTube video depicting the "realistic outcome of a hypothetical, but plausible earthquake" in Utah here. And register to participate here.

 http://www.shakeout.org/utah/resources/index.html

Conference to Combat Crime

Parents matter in protecting and influencing their children. Learn about Internet safety, bullying, or the harms of seemingly innocent sports drinks. Attend the state’s critical issues conference and find solutions to the issues facing our students, schools, neighborhoods, communities, and families. 

The six-day conference has information for many groups, including law enforcement officers, educators, administrators, religious leaders, professionals, parents, youth, and youth leaders. You can register for one or more days, based on your area of interest. PTA members and other group members have discounted registration fees.  In addition, youth groups have discounted rates for sessions specifically for them.

Topics for this year's conference:

• Internet Safety/Social Marketing/Anti-Pornography
• Drug Cartels/Border Issues 
• Tobacco Use Prevention
• Human trafficking
• Citizen Corps/neighborhood Watch
• Parents! You Matter 
• Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS)
• Youth Drug & Alcohol trends and Use of Steroids
• Suicide Prevention
• Distracted Driving

Register here for the Power of Prevention conference sponsored by the Utah Council for Crime Prevention (801) 486-8691, (800) 280-8824. www.utahcrimeprevention.org

January 23-28
Utah Cultural Celebration Center
1355 W. 3100 S.  West Valley City, Utah

Someone to Watch Over Me

Want to meet your local police officers?
Interested in joining or setting up a Mobile Watch program in your neighborhood?
Whether you are already a member of Mobile Watch, or you are interested in joining, we invite you to come and learn how you can take an active part in being the ‘eyes and ears’
of your neighborhood.
       Provo City Mobile Watch Meeting
      Wednesday, January 25th 2012, 7:00 pm
      Provo Police Department Training Room at 48 S 300 W
      Keynote Speaker – Chief Gregory
Find more Mobile Watch information at: www.provomw.blogspot.com or ‘friend’ us on facebook.

Cyclists, have your say!

The Provo City Bicycle Facilities Master Plan Team could really, really use more responses to its survey before the end of the month. If you haven't already, would you please take the brief survey, found here, and share it with others? It asks how often you bike, which roads you would like to see bike lanes on, etc. Even if you don't bike, they want to hear from you.

Prevent a Holiday Disappointment

This message comes from our local Police:

We have been having an increase in vehicle burglaries, particularly in the Grandview South, Grandview North, and Carterville neighborhoods. The majority of these have been vehicles that were not locked with money and any property of value such as ipods, cell phones, etc being taken.

Would you please pass the word out in your neighborhoods for people to be vigilant in locking their vehicles, not leaving valuables visible in cars, closing garage doors at night, and not leaving out valuable property. With the majority of the vehicle burglaries and also larceny from residents, being property that was left out, we feel like the thieves are just targeting easy crimes of opportunity. Many are likely juveniles. So encourage people to call us with any suspicious activities or juveniles seen walking the streets after curfew which is 11:00 pm during the week for all minors and 1:00 am for 16 & 17 year olds Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks for your help and have a happy and safe holiday season.

 

Lt D Jensen

Graveyard Patrol Shift

Provo PD

801-852-7242

To Protect and to Serve

The new Police Chief in Provo City has established a strategy called Community Oriented Policing (COP). Specific officers are assigned to districts within the City and they become familiar with the  businesses, the residents, the unique concerns, problems, and strengths of their respective communities.

Our neighborhood is COP District 1 and Lt. DeVon Jensen is responsible for our district.  Working with him is Officer Sean Ellefsen.

One of the first projects of the officers has been to visit the hotels and motels in Provo and to build relationships with the owners and managers.  They are offering a certification to businesses that follow guidelines to prevent criminal activity. This certification may influence the fees for their business licenses.

Because of the recent Citywide Gang Project and dedicated work of the police department and Gang officer, there has been a 49% reduction in gang related crime in the past year.

One of the outward signals of gang activity is graffiti. Police officers are asking for our help.  If you spot graffiti, call it in to Police Dispatch as soon as possible. Call 801-852-6210.

Lt. Jensen reminds us that the majority of crimes committed in Provo are preventable. He encourages us to secure bicycles and vehicles and stow valuable items out of sight.  Also lock your homes, even when you are inside, and most importantly, report suspicious activity to Police Dispatch immediately. You can reach the police department for non-emergency calls at 801-852-6271. 

You can call Lt Jensen directly at 801-852-7242 but he noted that he works graveyard, so late night calls are welcome!

New Stop Signs

The City is considering installing 14 new stop signs at intersections along 1500 West (also 1550 W) between 900 North and 1500 North.  Two of these currently have yield signs that would be traded out for the new stops.  This would not stop traffic on 1500 West but would require drivers crossing or turning onto 1500 West to stop, instead of just yielding to 1500 West traffic.  The signs would be placed at literally every cross street on 1500 or 1550 West between the south end of Grandview Hill to the roundabout at 1740 North.

Why are they proposing this? 
There have been accidents when cars enter the intersections from the east or west and don't look for oncoming traffic from the north or south, particularly from 1000 North and 1050 North.  The traffic engineer said that they are including all other intersections along the street for the sake of uniformity.

What do you think about this proposal? 
Some have suggested that yield signs will be sufficient to alert drivers to the traffic on these intersections.  The City engineers have asked the local Neighborhood chairs to collect feedback and to let them know what you think. 

Please send word to Deon Turley (Vice-chair of the Grandview South Neighborhood) about whether you think this is a good idea or not, and if not, what you think is a better course of action.  Respond before the end of the month please!

Fire Safety Week

The Mayor proclaimed this week as Fire Safety Week.  Take some time to talk to your family members about fire safety.  Visit a station, invite a firefighter to do a fire safety inspection in your home, change the batteries in your smoke detectors, think about how your family members would escape an upstairs room if fire made the stairs impassable.
If you have small children, make sure they know what a fire fighter looks like when he is dressed to fight a fire; it can be a frightening sight to child in danger.
The Fire Department has made a great video you may want to view with your family. Find it at City Beat (click on Fire Safety) or on the Mayor's Blog.

All the World is a Stage! Now you can play a part too.

Provo City needs volunteers for a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Drill. It will be held on November 10th and is a great opportunity to see how the community is preparing for emergencies. 

Volunteers will be made to look like victims of disasters and will be treated to pizza after the drill.  Brush up on your acting skills by "playing injured"!

Click on here for more information about how to participate in this community "disaster drill".