Mountain Shadows is a wonderful neighborhood located on the northwest side of Colorado Springs; tucked between Garden of the Gods, the Rocky Mountains and Ute Valley Park.

Safety in the Neighboorhood

FOR PERSONAL SAFETY

• Avoid advertising wealth or displaying expensive objects that can be easily taken 
• Walk with your head up, looking around you frequently and making eye contact with strangers who are in your vicinity. Offering a simple “hello” to demonstrate your lack of nervous anxiety can sometimes be enough to thwart an impending attack. 
• Keep your hands free and available for self-defense. 
• Don’t allow purses or bags to hang from your shoulder, behind your back. Instead, place the strap over your head so that it lies diagonally across your body and so the bag is in front of you, controlled by your hands.

FOR YOUR HOME

• Keep all exterior doors locked at all times, including storm doors. 
  
• When you’re away keep all windows closed and locked. Window-entry burglaries have happened while residents were simply in the other room. 
• Close garage doors when not in garage or driveway. Garage-entry burglaries have occurred while residents were in their front yards doing yard work. 
• When not at home and during hours of darkness, utilize window curtains and blinds. 
• At night (all night) leave front exterior lighting turned on. Utilize motion sensor lights in the rear and ensure all areas of the home that have access points are adequately illuminated when exterior lights are turned on.
• Trim bushes to waist height or lower and remove all tree branches that are lower than six (6) feet. This allows visibility around your home and removes hiding places for criminals. 
• Invest in a monitored alarm system for deterrence, audible alarm notification for occupants of home and immediate neighbors, and for an automatic police response.

FOR YOUR VEHICLES

• Keep your doors locked at all times, including when you’re in the vehicle. 
• Remove items of value and of perceived value from view. 
• Remove your garage door opener from your vehicle – consider purchasing a keychain remote. 
• Remove all items/paperwork that have your home address on them. If your vehicle is not at home, you likely aren’t home either and a criminal may exploit this knowledge and immediately go to your home to burglarize it. 
• Do not leave a spare key “hidden” inside the vehicle – it will be found. 
• Puffers, do not leave your vehicle running while it is unattended. In the winter months motor vehicle thefts go up exponentially. Leaving your vehicle running is a violation of “City Statue 10-11-103 Unattended Motor Vehicles.” Colorado Springs is ranked second in the state for motor vehicle thefts. Remote starts options are not covered in the City or State statue

Adapted from CSPD’s Personal Safety and Security bulletin released in conjunction with Colorado Springs Together, 2013