As a 17-year-old, I work part-time at an entertainment facility in Concord. For me, a typical closing shift involves more than locking the doors and driving home. As I shut the lights off and set the passcode for the alarm, my heart begins to pound. Paranoia fills my mind as I step out into an empty, dark parking lot alone. 

I stare ahead at my car in the parking lot as the leaves blow across pavement and startle me. The dim lights illuminate a walking path as I hurry to my car. 

I can’t help but think about the recent robberies at gas stations, as well as the gun threats and murders in Concord and the surrounding towns. It’s all you see in the news. Children are disappearing, homicides are happening, investigations remain unsolved. While I used to feel relatively safe in Concord and its surrounding towns, now I’m not so sure. 

As I’ve gotten older, I have come to understand the reality that the world can be a bad place with bad people in it. But I also believe the communities can be doing more to keep its residents safe.

And while police are not the problem, providing more security in certain areas could help prevent many of the issues that are taking place. Providing more security would not only help to keep criminals away from certain areas, but also ensure that people— like myself—feel safe. 

Some people will argue that the crime is not a persistent enough problem to fund extra security in the Concord-area, but individuals feeling the slightest bit safer is the start in establishing safer communities. 

For example, here in Pembroke, there are also some concerns with increased crime. Looking at statistics from 2017 to 2018, the crime rate in Pembroke alone increased 89 percent. This is something that is concerning. I do believe that if we take the necessary  steps in crime prevention by adding more security personnel,  we are one step closer to lowering crime  and creating safer communities.