MANSFIELD — The Richland County Sheriff’s Office has created a “Guide to Community Safety” in an effort to inform and educate the public on safety concerns and community resources.
The 23-page guide touches on a variety of topics, including common-sense carjacking prevention tips, how to deal with road rage, what to do in an active shooter situation, home fire safety tips and how to protect yourself from identity theft.
There’s also a four-page directory of county offices, as well as information on volunteer organizations.
“We get a lot of phone calls from people asking about this or that and we tried to address them in this book,” Sheriff Steve Sheldon said.
The department began working on the guide about two years ago.
“This really was a group effort,” he said.
Sheldon views the guide as an opportunity to better serve and protect the community.
Thanks to anonymous donation, 25,000 copies were published at no cost to taxpayers.
Sheldon said he’s targeting schools, churches and businesses to serve as distribution sites. He’s working with First Call 211 to make copies available at all of the local libraries.
If interested in obtaining a guide, stop in the sheriff’s office at 597 Park Avenue East.
The guide will be available online sometime in the near future, Sheldon said. Updates will be made as needed.
“If another topic comes up that we think needs to be addressed we can add it,” he said.
