Dear residents,

With spring approaching, I want to talk about something very important to me as both a mother and a police officer, and that's the safety of our children. As parents we're always wondering, "Is my child safe when I'm not around?" *

The first step is to have a safety plan for your child. Parents need to teach their children how to protect themselves from abductors, no matter how scary it is to talk about.

Nine out of ten children will freeze when faced with a threatening situation, because they have never been taught what to do. Practicing basic safety techniques will give your children the tools they need in a crisis situation. The best approach is to make your safety plan meaningful and fun, too.

When I teach a "Children Escaping Abduction" (CEA) class (one of our "Safety 1st 4Kids" programs), I always ask kids whether they've practiced the Stop, Drop & Roll approach to fire safety. Almost all of them have. Try the same fun approach and practice the CEA technique (see below) with your child.

There's a Free CEA Safety Open House April 15 at 6:30 pm at Police headquarters: 11445 Johns Creek Parkway, Johns Creek, GA 30097. Please bring your children and come and learn about CEA. Must reserve space by contacting Kathy Shiplett at 678-474-1561 or Kathy.Shiplett@JohnsCreekGA.gov.

Also, I highly recommend Safe Side's video. It is a fun video for children.

* In 2007, according to the National Crime Information Center, 518 children (18 and under) were abducted by strangers; 2,919 children were abducted by a non-custodial parent; and 299,787 children were reported as runaways.

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The goal of the "Drop and Lock" safety technique is to stop an abductor from taking your child to another location. Abductors don't want to draw attention. They want to get the child and go. Practice with your kids and make it fun!

• Run, if you can.
• Scream as loudly as possible "This is not my mom" or "This is not my dad." This will alert anyone nearby.
• If you can't run, drop to the ground and sit on the foot of the bad guy, wrapping your legs around his leg (Indian style). Holding on tight with your arms.
• Once you have one leg, grab for the other leg with your arms, lock on and bear-hug the leg.
• When the bad guy freaks out and tries to get away, run.

Georgia Power is warning customers to be aware of imposters contacting them to say their electric bill is past due and an urgent credit card payment is needed to avoid loss of service.

Since March 1, a number of Metro Atlanta customers have become victims of the scam artists who get credit card numbers from the customers, then wire money from those credit accounts to different locations or use the numbers to make fraudulent purchases.

Georgia Power says their employees will never call a customer at home seeking personal information and field-service representatives will never ask a customer for money when they visit a residence.

If you're a victim, or have any information on the suspects, contact Georgia Power's Corporate Security department at 404-506-4116.

Though less than a year old, the Johns Creek Police Department already has several detectives who are part of a number of Metro Atlanta-based law enforcement interagency task forces.

By serving on the FBI's Gang Interdiction and Safe Child task forces, the US Postal Inspection Service's Metro Task Force and The Office of National Drug Control Policy's Atlanta HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Task Force, Johns Creek Police work closely with federal, state, and other local law enforcement agencies to address violent street gang activity, child predators, child pornography, internet fraud, drug trafficking and drug-related activities.

"Because of our participation on these task forces, we are able to expand our intelligence in these kinds of crimes and get fast answers when we need them in our investigations. It also improves communications with these agencies," said Police Chief Ed Densmore.

Johns Creek Police are raising funds for the "Law Enforcement Torch Run" for Special Olympics Georgia, a year-round sports training and athletic competition program serving 22,000 Georgians with intellectual disabilities.

Golf Tournament May 18, "Cops on Shop" May 1-3

The JCPD will host a Golf Tournament, May 18 at the Standard Club, and a "Cops on Shop" sit-in May 1-3 on the roof of Garrison's Broiler & Tap. Please call Major John Clifton or Sgt. Debbie Kalish at 678-474-1600 for information on sponsorships and tournament registration. Read more.

Top 5 roads for accidents:

1. Medlock Bridge (28)
2. Jones Bridge (20)
3. State Bridge (10)
4. Abbotts Bridge (8)
5. Old Alabama (6)

Top 5 Intersections for accidents:

1. Jones Bridge & Sargent
2. Medlock Bridge & Hospital Pkwy
3. Johns Creek Pkwy & Lakefield Drive
4. Medlock Bridge & State Bridge
5. State Bridge & Jones Bridge

Burglaries (Total 11):  Bell Road (1), Abberly Township (1), Abbotts Run (1), Access Online, Inc. (1), Avonlea Apartments (2), Chelsea Ridge Apartments (1), Jones Bridge Plantation (1), Laurel Ridge (1), Parsons Run (1) and The Reserve at Haynes Brook (1).

Car break-ins (Total: 23):  Aviary Ridge (1), Cambridge (1), Chattahoochee River Recreation Area (1), Emory Johns Creek Hospital (3), Johns Creek Village (1), Macy's Integrated Systems (1), Mayfair (3), Medlock Corners Shopping Center (1), Medlock Crossing (2), Riverwalk (1), St. Clair (1), St. Ives Country Club Clubhouse (1), Silver Ridge (3), State Bridge Corners Shopping Center (3) and The Estates at Wellington (1).