Before anything, a community must be safe.

   We can talk about all manner of amenities and development, but if a community is not safe, the rest will not go far.

   Farmers Branch is a safe place to live.

   Our crime stats bear that out and its a consistent rating we get from our citizens every time we conduct our satisfaction surveys.

   You feel safe here, and that is something that should not ever be taken for granted.

   A large part of what goes into the success of our public safety agencies is the degree of citizen involvement we have. Community outreach programs like the Citizen Police and Fire Academies and Citizens on Patrol not only give our residents an inside look at their public safety agencies, these programs inform, educate and, frequently, enlighten them on how and why our police officers and firefighters do what they do.

   The Farmers Branch Citizen Police Academy has been held every year since 1998, offering residents a chance to learn a lot of what our officers learn, on their way to a better understanding of their local agency.

   Citizens on Patrol, while a separate program, was a natural progression where interested citizens have a chance to literally pitch in and lend their eyes and ears, in an organized way, to help our officers do their jobs.

   Chief Sid Fuller brought Citizens on Patrol with him when he came here in 2006. He says it illustrates how special this City really is.

   "Farmers Branch Citizens on Patrol not only act as our eyes and ears on the streets by observing and reporting criminal activity, a walk through the Justice Center will reveal citizen volunteers doing many tasks that free up sworn officers to be in the field doing police work," he said. "Our City is better because of our Citizens on Patrol."

   In the last three and a half years, alone, Citizens on Patrol have dedicated more than 15,300 hours to the Farmers Branch Police Department. That's equivalent to 384 (or more than seven years' worth of) 40-hour work weeks for a full-time employee. 

   That's huge.

 

   

 

   

Saturday:

 Free animal adoptions up for one day only, 9 am to 3 pm

 

FARMERS BRANCH ~ The Farmers Branch Animal Adoption Center will be offering all adoptable pets without adoption cost for one day only on 'Clear the Shelter Day,' Saturday, August 15.

   The Center will be open from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. that day and will be hoping to 'clear the shelter' of all adoptable pets.

   The effort comes as part of the second annual such event where more than 50 shelters across north Texas will be attempting to adopt as many pets as possible.

   Although the normal $85 pet adoption fee will be waived, all regular services remain the same for pets adopted that date. Those services include microchipping, first round of vaccinations including for rabies, spay or neutering, a free veterinarian exam at participating local clinics, and, for adult dogs and cats, testing for heart worm and feline leukemia. 

   Last year, 38 participating shelters adopted more than 2,200 pets.

   For more information, visit cleartheshelters.org.

Water/sewer rate increase proposed to offset pass-through costs