SE to hold awareness festival
by Tiffany Davis, south news editor

    Health and crime prevention information will be available during the second Crime Prevention Awareness Festival Wednesday, March 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the front visitors parking lot and Main Commons on SE Campus.

    The festival is also sponsored by SE Campus health services. According to Cpl. David Williams, SE Campus police officer, the festival will provide a wealth of information to the community from police services to health.

    “This event is not just for the TCC community. We are hoping that people from all over the metroplex will attend,” he said.

    The Arlington Police department is expected to have its mobile command unit, gang unit, swat team and many other divisions available to provide information and explain what each unit does to prevent crime.

    Williams’ vision in coordinating this program is to educate the community about the different aspects of law enforcement.

    “We want to be proactive in dealing with crimes by educating through crime prevention instead of being reactive by waiting for crimes to happen,” he said.

    Veronica Warrior, coordinator of health services, is committed to coordinating health information with the crime prevention as an effort to reach individuals who may be facing health-related issues that sometimes result in crime.

    “We are bringing out preventive vendors to discuss some of the means and tools that they use to redirect drug abuse, violence and alcohol abuse. They will be here to give resources to help people cope with problems,” Warrior said.

    Warrior said that according to statistics, Tarrant County has the highest percentage of pregnancies among teenagers in Texas.

    “People obviously haven’t been given the tools to know how to work out their problems. I hope that at least one person will use the information provided to live a healthy and crime-free life,” she said.
According to Williams, approximately 30 vendors are participating in this year’s festival.

    Participants will include the Rape Crisis and Victim Assistance, The Tarrant Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Women’s Center, Santa Fe Adolescent Services and Girls Incorporated. Other groups will include Volunteers of America (VOA), Drug Awareness and Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).