Safety measures for children
Updated December 23, 2009
What parents should teach children:
- To stay away from strangers.
- To inform them if a stranger offers them candy, presents or rides, touches them or makes them uncomfortable.
- To inform them if someone known to the family makes physical advances towards them.
- To walk across the street—do not run.
- To not cross a street against a red light.
- To cross the street at a corner, not in the middle of the street.
- To not play or run in the street.
- To stay out of alleys.
- To stay away from empty buildings, empty boxes, abandoned refrigerators and other potentially dangerous places.
Safety tips
- If children go to a park or a store, they should go with friends, not by themselves. And, they should always ask for permission first.
- If children are home alone and someone comes to the door, they should call out that their mother or father is in the shower or taking a nap.
- Children should not open the door to strangers.
- Children should know they can call the Cerritos Sheriff’s Station/Community Safety Center at (562) 860-0044 if their parents aren’t home and something or someone harms or scares them.
- Let your children know they can talk over any problem with you—no matter what—and then be there, with an open mind, when they turn to you.
Parent responsibilities
- Provide supervision for your children when they invite friends to your home, particularly for teenagers' parties.
- Teach youngsters respect for laws and law enforcement agencies and that Cerritos deputies are friends whose job is to protect children and adults from harm.
