Area families make community policing job much easier

By: 
Ron Craig, Crime Prevention/Community Policing Officer

        The families of many Lake Township residents have made my job as a community policing officer much easier these past three months. During this time, I have spent much of my time contacting these residents to check on them, making sure their grocery and other needs are being met.
        An overwhelming majority of the residents have regularly told me they have family members making trips to the store to keep them stocked up with food and other necessities.
        This tells me our township residents have family members who truly care about one another.
        These close bonds with family, especially between grandparents and grandchildren, took me back to when one of my own grandmothers was alive. She and I were especially close, and I spent a lot of time with her.
        As I talked to the elders, I could tell in their voices the enthusiasm they experienced whenever they had contact with their family members. The children and grandchildren provided not only a lifeline to food but a link to socialization.
        Some of the younger family members had to drive a good distance to get to the residents’ homes, but they still cared enough to do it. This is part of a deeper meaning of “family.”
        During these past three months, I have had the pleasure of having some great conversations with our township’s Neighborhood Watch members and others. I think this has drawn me much closer to these residents as many of these conversations have lasted a half hour or more.
        To me, this was a sign some were lacking in socialization as stay-at-home orders were in place.
        Many of our residents, particularly the elderly ones, are still very apprehensive about going outside their homes again. This is completely understandable as many have underlying health conditions that could make contracting the coronavirus a very serious situation.
        For this reason, I will continue, at least for a while, to make contact with the residents and I am looking forward to seeing them again at our Neighborhood Watch meetings when the time is appropriate.
        On a sad note, we lost one of our Neighborhood Watch members during the stay-at-home orders. She was in her 90s and had a good life, but was very lonely after her husband passed away about a year ago. I will sincerely miss her.
        I encourage you to maintain close contact with your mother, father, grandmothers and grandfathers, even as restrictions ease up. If you could have been part of the conversations I have had with them the past three months, you would understand how much it really means to all of them.
        This article is a public service from the Crime Prevention Division of the Lake Township Police Department. Township residents may obtain further information on crime prevention and public safety topics by contacting Ron Craig, crime prevention specialist/community policing officer, at 419-481-6354.

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