If you were to commit to memory and put into practice the following 10 tips on avoiding crime, it would go along way in protecting you or your family from being victims of the criminal element in our society.

1. Be Alert! Keep your head up. Be aware of your surroundings. Stay in well-lighted, busy areas. Avoid walking alone and avoid known trouble spots.

2. Vary Your Routines. Predictability makes you a more likely target.

3. Lock It! Home, car, office – locks are your first line of defense.

4. Make Your Home A Tough Target. Use floodlights, motion sensors, a security system, deadbolts, etc.

5. Foil Car-jackers. Keep windows/doors locked; check mirrors and blind spots when stopped. Stay one to one and a half lengths away from the car ahead of you when coming to a stop. This is necessary so that you have enough room to pull out in a hurry if someone approaches your car Sound your horn and flash your lights if you think you are approached by a car-jacker.

6. Avoid Car Theft. Lock it! As mentioned above this is your first line of defense. Use an anti-theft device. Turn the wheels when you park. This makes it harder for anyone who tries to move or tow your car. Never leave a spare key inside the car. Always park in a well-lighted place. Put packages in the trunk.

7. Be Creative. Think of unusual ways to protect yourself and your valuables.

8. Be Informed. Learn the crime trends in your area and work to protect yourselves against them. Knowledge and familiarized is great, but lack of knowledge or lack of being aware of your neighborhood or surrounding can be costly.

9. Get Involved. Have you joined or organized a Neighborhood Watch?

10. Do Not Give Up! Do not throw in the towel on “the war on crime.” Crime can be reduced with action, not apathy! Do not get discouraged or become to comfortable with you daily routines, stay aware.

The following of this advice is good protocol no matter where you live and work. Whether it be city or suburbia, north, south, and east or west.

Criminal law involves prosecution by the government of a person for an act that has been classified as a crime. Civil cases, on the other hand, involve individuals and organizations seeking to resolve legal disputes. In a criminal case the state, through a prosecutor, initiates the suit, while in a civil case the victim brings the suit. Persons convicted of a crime may be incarcerated, fined, or both. However, persons found liable in a civil case may only have to give up property or pay money, but are not incarcerated. A “crime” is any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it. Though there are some common law crimes, most crimes in the United States are established by local, state, and federal governments. Criminal laws vary significantly from state to state. There is, however, a Model Penal Code (MPC) which serves as a good starting place to gain an understanding of the basic structure of criminal liability.

Crimes include both felonies (more serious offenses — like murder or rape) and misdemeanors (less serious offenses — like petty theft or jaywalking). Felonies are usually crimes punishable by imprisonment of a year or more, while misdemeanors are crimes punishable by less than a year. However, no act is a crime if it has not been previously established as such either by statute or common law. Recently, the list of Federal crimes, dealing with activities extending beyond state boundaries or having special impact on federal operations, has grown. See Title 18.

All statutes describing criminal behavior can be broken down into their various elements. Most crimes (with the exception of strict-liability crimes) consist of two elements: an act, or “actus reus,” and a mental state, or “mens rea.” Prosecutors have to prove each and every element of the crime to yield a conviction. Furthermore, the prosecutor must persuade the jury or judge “beyond a reasonable doubt” of every fact necessary to constitute the crime charged. In civil cases, the plaintiff needs to show a defendant is liable only by a “preponderance of the evidence,” or more than 50%