Jim Cragg Pushes for Community Safety with Informational Postcard

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

Who you gonna call? Well, that depends what you need.

Palisadian and American Legion Ronald Reagan – Palisades Post 283 Commander Jim Cragg recently spearheaded a campaign to send out 10,000 postcards to each home in Pacific Palisades, a six-month public safety project in the making that lists who community members should call when they need services.

Cragg explained American Legion coordinated with Los Angeles Police Department’s West LA Division, Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness, LA County Department of Mental Health and other entities to create a one-page guide for the community. He also worked with Lou Kamer, who helped with the layout, and Legionary Janice Bowman, who worked on the mental health resources portion.

He said it’s important for Palisadians to know who to call in an emergency because calling the wrong agency can result in lost time and congesting dispatch lines.

“As Legionnaires, we often have a connection and understanding of law enforcement and [emergency medical services],” Cragg explained to the Palisadian-Post, “so I decided to utilize this trusted position in the community to educate our citizens in their role in activating EMS and communicating with the appropriate authority.”

In addition to listing 911, the postcard also includes contact information for county and mental health resources, PPTFH, Palisades Senior Lead Officer Brian Espin, LA Animal Services, and Department of Transportation.

“My Post printed it and mailed it, but I worked with our local community safety group and I spoke with the agencies directly,” Cragg said. “My hope is that this will end up [on] refrigerators and saved on cell phones across my city.

“I also hope this will inspire people to understand that they are an important part of the EMS process and walking away in ignorance is not OK … This education means properly routed calls to EMS but it also enables citizens to be an active part of our EMS system.”

With a goal to educate and incite engagement between these resources and the community, Cragg said this started with the American Legion hosting events with LAPD WLA Division to learn about how they serve the town and LA County Sheriff Department’s Homeless Outreach Services Team to learn about their work with LA’s homeless population.

He shared hopes to continue educating the community with different classes, including first aid, stop the bleed, tactical emergency casualty care and amateur radio.

Cragg said his next project is to send out a map to local emergency services in the Palisades.

“If this brings the community closer to our police, fire crews, social workers, paramedics and animal control,” Cragg said about the effort, “then I will have accomplished something more important.”

A full-size version of the safety card is available online at alpost283.com/safety.