Dear residents,

When is it ok to leave your child home alone? Georgia has no laws determining when a child is old enough to be left without adult supervision; but it does have these guidelines:

• Children under 8 should never be left alone, even for short periods of time.
• Children 9-12, based on maturity level, can be left home alone for brief periods.
• Children 13+ can generally babysit, with the exception of children in foster care. Not recommended to baby sit infants, small children, and children with medical conditions.
• Children 15+ can be left home alone overnight, depending on their level of maturity.

The U.S. Census says about seven million school-age kids are regularly left home alone: 15 percent before school; 76 percent after school; 9 percent at night.

If you decide to leave your child alone, it is important to consider their developmental abilities; how they feel; their comfort level; are they capable of responding to an emergency?

Start with short trial runs to make sure they are comfortable; be accessible (always leave your cell phone on) or have a trusted adult accessible; and set rules.*

Your child must:

1. Call you at work to let you know they're home from school.
2. Never tell anyone who phones/knocks on door that they are by themselves.
3. Know where you are/how you can be contacted.
4. Never open door/ talk to anyone through the door unless it is a trusted family friend/relative they feel comfortable being alone with and the visit has been pre-approved by you.

* National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

P.S.  If you received this copy from someone else, sign up here to get your own copy each month.

With summer ending and the start of school next week, the JCPD reminds motorists to be extra careful at all times to keep kids safe as they walk and bike to school.

JCPD Traffic officers will be extensively monitoring school crossings and school zones during the first two weeks of school.

Whether you are taking your kids to school or just driving through a school zone, you can do your part by following these Back to School Safety Tips.

The latest victims of mass-marketing fraud and identity theft are children.

Given a Social Security number at birth, they don't use it until they get their first job as teenagers. During those in-between-years, Internet fraudsters access those numbers in a variety of ways to counterfeit checks and money orders, and facilitate schemes, including overpayment, lottery, and employment fraud.

The fraud is not discovered until the teen starts working and applying for credit. Learn more in this Atlanta Journal Constitution article.

Security is a concern, even in the most desirable apartment or condo building because crimes are often committed by those who have access (other tenants, maintenance people, security people, friends of tenants, and of course professional criminals). Criminals always look for the easy target and the easy entrance.

Take this short Safety Quiz from our new service partner CrimeReports to see if you are doing all that you can to make your apartment/townhouse safe or if there are other prevention measures that you may not have considered.

There are a few spots left in the next class of the Johns Creek's Citizens Police Academy, which starts September 7 and meets every Tuesday night for nine weeks.

Open to all Johns Creek residents 21 and older (must pass a background check), the class provides an in-depth look at JCPD operations, how it is organized and what policies it follows in setting a high standard for community policing. Read more.

Burglaries (12): ): Diabetes/Hypertension Clinic, Addison Place, Camden on the River, Chatburn, Creekside (2), Glastonberry, Lake Hills, Oxford Mill, Seven Oaks, Sugar Mill, Westbury.

Car break-ins (20): 9900 Medlock Bridge Road, Fire Station 62, Brookstead Chase, Country Lake, Lakeview Estates, Lexington Woods, Mt. Pisgah, Newtown Park, Ocee Park (2), Primrose School, Regal Cinemas, River Knoll, Stevens Creek, Twingate, Wachovia, and Willow South Riding School (4).