What is Mike's Plan for Improving Community Safety?

By Mike Eggers

As our population grows, we need to dedicate specific city resources to engage adolescents and teens where they congregate to lead them away from destructive behavior.

My experience in effectively dealing with adolescents and teenagers stems from spending four years at Valley Forge Military Academy. As a 1st Sgt., I was responsible for 120 cadets ranging from ages 12 to 18. I found that the best way to deal with cadets of this age was to establish clear expectations and apply direct intervention when expectations were not met. Each cadet could then expect that if their actions were outside of the normally allowed activities, they would get some sort of leadership contact -- not always a harsh or negative one, but a contact to let them know what the expectations were.

Looking back on my experience, I feel that applying a similar process of community policing in the city of Rancho Santa Margarita will greatly improve our ability keep adolescent and teenage kids out of trouble. As your city councilman, this would be one of my top priorities.

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) is a collaborative program between community residents and police officers. It has proven very effective in addressing adolescent and teenage behavior issues in a nonaggressive, positive manner before they become a bigger problem requiring traditional police intervention. To learn more, visit http://www.cops.usdoj.gov.

What do you see happening in your neighborhood? Send me an email and let me know what you think. Thanks again for your support.

Mike Eggers for RSM City Council

mike.eggers@cox.net