Safe Communities at the County Level

Volume 4, Number 1 - Winter 2000/2001

The Salt Lake County Multi-Agency Task Force in Utah has discovered that working at the county level provides opportunities to take programs that have been developed or successfully piloted by constituent agencies and expand them to neighboring communities or the entire county. Salt Lake County has been especially successful in encouraging schools to become involved in traffic safety. The following three programs, in particular, have been proven so effective that they are rapidly spreading to other counties:

• Operation Safe Passages: Originally developed to protect children from being abducted while walking to and from school, this program-in which parents and other volunteers safeguard walking routes-proved so successful in lowering the rate of pedestrian injuries among children that communities now implement it to help prevent motor vehicle injuries.

• Parent Parking Patrol Program: This program uses parent volunteers to approach drivers who are violating traffic laws or otherwise endangering children in school zones to talk to them about their driving. The volunteers are trained to recognize moving violations and unsafe driving and to educate drivers in a nonconfrontational manner.

• It's Up You to Cross Alive: This program teaches children ages 10 through 16 about crossing streets safely.

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