With summertime rapidly approaching, constituents are making plans and preparations for the warm weather, increased social events, and vacation trips. As residents engage in more outdoor activities, travel, and public events, local government officials must make the necessary adjustments to public safety policies to ensure the safety and well-being of residents and visitors.
Summer is an often highly-anticipated season that poses its own unique safety risks associated with outdoor activities, weather conditions, and increased traffic. Ensuring the wellbeing of constituents is crucial during the summer months to prevent accidents, illnesses, and other emergencies that can mar the season's enjoyment.
Failing to adjust public safety policies for summertime can lead to a number of significant risks, including heat-related illnesses, fire hazards, and a strain on emergency response measures. Balancing the joys of summer activities with the inherent risks requires meticulous planning and robust public safety strategies.
Luckily, the tedious work that is required by government officials can be condensed and streamlined with government management software like GovPilot. Read on to learn all the best strategies to keep your city safe in the summer, and how GovPilot can help!
What Will This Guide Cover?
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The Difference Between Public Safety Demands In The Summer or Winter
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Step By Step Guide To Improving Summer Safety
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What GovPilot Software Provides
What Is A Local Government Safety Strategy?
A local government safety strategy is a comprehensive plan designed to protect and enhance the wellbeing of the community by addressing various safety concerns through targeted policies, programs, and initiatives. An effective safety strategy involves collaboration among stakeholders, risk assessments, training and drills, and safe infrastructure.
Government safety strategies are designed to proactively safeguard the community by preventing accidents, reducing crime, and preparing for emergencies through comprehensive planning.
Summertime brings about unique challenges and risks that need to be addressed to prevent injuries, reduce health risks, and maintain public order. Safety strategies in the summer should focus on relevant matters, including heat mitigation, water safety, event safety, and traffic management to keep the community and its constituents healthy, safe, and able to participate in summer activities.
Learn How Your Local Government Can Improve Community Safety in our article.
Why Is Community Safety Especially Important In The Summer?
Local government entities need to focus on community-safety in the summer because of various new threats and risks associated with the warmer weather. Learn about all of these heightened risks here:
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More Pedestrians / Citizens Outside
The summer months often see a rise in travel and tourism, leading to increased traffic and potential for vehicular accidents. Public gatherings and events can draw large crowds, necessitating enhanced security and crowd management measures to prevent incidents of violence or chaos. Officials are expected to ensure that streets are safely organized to allow for the increased foot traffic.
Learn more about our 15-Minute City Guide for Local Government here.
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New Tourists
Many communities experience an influx of visitors during the summer, drawn by local attractions, events, and favorable weather. While this boost in tourism can benefit the local economy, it also introduces specific safety challenges that require careful management.
Tourists are more vulnerable to accidents because they often lack knowledge about local hazards and safety protocols. The increase of tourists in the summer leads to a higher strain on emergency services, public health concerns of communicable diseases, and inadvertent harm to local ecosystems.
Learn How Tourism Can Increase Your City’s Revenue here.
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Opened Bars and Drinking
The combination of warm weather, extended daylight hours, and a festive atmosphere often leads to more people frequenting bars and engaging in social drinking.
While these activities can enhance the enjoyment of the summer season, they also introduce additional safety challenges that require the attention of local authorities. One of the primary concerns surrounding alcohol is impaired driving, as impaired drivers have reduced reaction times and impaired judgment, leading to more traffic accidents and fatalities.
Increased alcohol consumption consequently increases the risk of public disorder, health emergencies that require medical attention, underage drinking, and the spread of infectious diseases.
Check out GovPilot’s Report A Concern feature and learn all about it!
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Outside Events
Summer events often draw large crowds of people, meaning the risk of accidents and injuries is increased at these events. Large crowds at public events, including festivals, concerts, parades, and sports games, can lead to trampling, fights, and panic during emergencies. The presence of large crowds can also strain public health resources and disrupt local traffic, further inflating the need for security measures and meeting code inspections.
Check out GovPilot’s Special Event Application.
Step By Step Guide To Improving Summer Safety
Read our step-by-step guide to improving your community’s safety in the summer, and follow these tips, too!
1. Allocate Funding For Emergency Services
Planning for possible hazards or accidents is a crucial aspect of public safety, and local government officials are responsible for allocating proper funding for emergency services to keep citizens safe. Local government summer safety strategies need to allocate funding primarily for emergency services to ensure adequate resources are available in the case of an emergency.
Emergency service funding contributes to improved equipment, proactive public safety measures, enhanced response capabilities, and environmental and health protections.
Read our guide on Local Government Risk Management & Mitigation here.
2. Ensure Roads and Streets Are Drivable
As foot traffic and travel increase in the summertime, municipal infrastructure is put to the test under extreme temperatures and constant use by residents. Well-maintained roads reduce the risk of accidents while improving the efficiency of emergency response measures, providing constituents and emergency personnel with a safe, stable route of travel. Well kept roads are a key component of summer public safety, as they improve the flow of traffic, pedestrian and cyclist safety, weather-related preparedness, and support for emergency response.
Read about GovPilot’s Department of Public Works Software and how it eliminates the need for slow, paper-based workflows.
3. Ensure All Public Signage Is Clear
Clear and effective signage provides essential information for tourists and residents in the summer to stay informed, safe, and behave in accordance with the social regulations of public safety. Well-maintained, clearly visible signs help to enhance navigation, inform and protect tourists, promote public health and safety, and manage crowds.
Find out What Constituents Want From Their Government Officials here!
4. Ensure Public Infrastructure Is Up To Code
Summer public safety strategies must address the state and usage frequency of public infrastructure as a way to minimize hazards and prevent accidents. By maintaining infrastructure through building inspections and code compliance, officials can make efforts to prevent structural failures, facilitate safe transportation, enhance accessibility, and ensure the safe delivery of services and utilities.
Check out GovPilot’s Code Enforcement Software here.
5. Provide Necessary Street Lights
Adequate street lighting is crucial to summer public safety, as it enhances visibility to make a safer environment for all citizens. By providing necessary street lights in a locality, local government officials significantly improve summer public safety for pedestrians, drivers, and emergency services.
Well-lit streets can also deter crime, as visible public areas are less attractive to criminals. Adequate lighting in public spaces keeps communities safe and comfortable for constituents and tourists, allowing individuals from all backgrounds to engage in community events.
6. Enlist Traffic Guards To Monitor Traffic
Managing increased foot and vehicle traffic can be a struggle for local government officials in the summertime, while they oversee public events and fulfill the needs of their community.
Traffic guards play an essential role in pedestrian safety, particularly during the busy summer months when outdoor activities, events, and tourism increase. Enlisting traffic guards for summer safety ensures orderly movement of crowds, chaos prevention, and congestion reduction.
What GovPilot Software Can Do For You
GovPilot provides many software solutions designed to help local governments of any size, and the following are designed to specifically improve community safety! Check them out:
GovPilot's code enforcement software centralizes data and allows code enforcement officers to perform inspections and issue a violation or certification notice via tablet, directly from the field. With digital forms available to residents, GovPilot’s code enforcement software eliminates paper processes, saving a significant amount of time for employees while records are filed and processed quickly.
Local government officials can utilize the GovInspect App to streamline inspections across multiple departments. WIth this digitized, cloud based software, inspection reports are formatted to a local government's standards and are saved in real-time, becoming instantly searchable by any employee or department with access to the GovPilot platform.
Read on about How Business Inspections Can Ensure Public Safety.
Despite the unique risks of summertime and concerns for public safety, officials can support local law enforcement officers by offering them GovPilot’s Law Enforcement software. GovPilot’s platform enables police departments to access crucial data instantaneously via the Cloud, ensuring officers have adequate situational awareness in all settings.
Prioritize Safety This Summer In Your Municipality
As summer grows closer and constituents spend more time outside engaging in recreational activities, local government officials should be analyzing and improving security measures to keep their community safe.
Practicing summer public safety is a vital component of government officials’ responsibilities, as the risk of accidents and injuries increases significantly in the summer months. Local officials can utilize GovPilot’s cloud-based software to streamline security measures and ensure all proper regulations and codes are being enforced for the safety of the community. Book a consultation with GovPilot today to learn what we can do to help you!
Summer Safety Guide FAQs
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What is the difference between summer public safety and winter public safety?
- Public safety practices vary depending on the season to prepare for the possible extreme weather conditions of both summer and winter. Summer safety includes extreme heat protection and crowd management, while winter safety focuses on icy roads and frozen or damaged utilities.
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What agencies keep the public safe in the summer?
- Local government institutions and officials are responsible for keeping the public safe year round, including the summer months. They are the first line of support and protection for constituents and this responsibility should be taken seriously.
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