Safety and Security

Everyone in the Floating Homes Community can play a vital role in keeping our community safe and secure. The FHA Safety and Security Committee, chaired by volunteers Tiff McNamara and Giff Jones, ensure strong relationships between the FHA and the local police and fire departments. This committee also oversees Dockwatch, the FHA tool for tracking and keeping our members informed of crime around Lake Union and Portage Bay.

The Floating Homes Association offers the following suggestions for making your floating neighborhood a safe and peaceful place:

• Get to know your neighbors. When we build strong relationships with our neighbors and stay informed of activities going on around us, we are more attuned when things may not seem quite right and we can take action that might keep a person and/or their property out of harm's way.
• Report suspicious activities right away to the police, to your dockmates and to the FHA Dockwatch.
• Use Dockwatch: Become a member of Dockwatch and stay informed of recent crime trends; also report any criminal activity on the Dockwatch website.
• Keep emergency numbers handy. The FHA has put together an Emergency Contacts Web Page of important numbers and websites. Please print this out and keep it near your phone and computer.
• Learn important methods for preventing crime by visiting Seattle's crime prevention website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/police/prevention/default.htm
• Prepare yourself for natural disasters: Recent storms and earthquakes remind us that no one is immune from Mother Nature. Here are two documents to help you be prepared:

  Review the Power Point on Personal and Neighborhood Preparedness presented at the 2007 FHA annual meeting by Debbie Goetz from The Seattle Office of Emergency Management.

  Print out the Seattle Neighborhood Preparedness Program (SNAP) Brochure.

• Volunteer to reduce crime. If you'd like to play a more intricate role in ensuring the safety and security of our floating homes community, please consider joining the FHA Safety and Security committee by sending email to: dockwatch@seattlefloatinghomes.org.
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The FHA Safety & Security Committee holds a permanent seat on the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol Advisory Council, which in addition to the FHA, consists of law enforcement, USCG, shoreline businesses, and waterfront interests such as Kenmore Air and Argosy Tours. The Council meets bimonthly to discuss issues and solutions common to member interests. We are occasionally joined by Seattle Fire Department representatives. Council updates of interest to houseboaters will be posted in this space after every meeting.

Report

Past Reports: Security and Safety Committee