Welcome to the city of St Joseph's weekly digital newsletter. City Link is your source for timely and relevant information from your local government.
Thursday, September 9, 2021
National Preparedness Month

Each year, September is recognized as National Preparedness Month for families to get a disaster plan in place. This year's theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.” There are several steps you can take to make sure you and your family are prepared.
  • Make a Plan: Talk to your friends and family about how you will communicate before, during and after a disaster. Make sure to update your plan based on the Centers for Disease Control recommendations due to COVID-19.
  • Build a Kit: Gather supplies that will last for several days after a disaster for everyone in your home. Make sure to consider any unique needs each person or pet may have including medications or allergies. Find a list of items to put in your kit here.
  • Low-Cost, No-Cost Preparedness: Natural disasters don’t wait for a convenient time and preparing for them shouldn’t wait either. Start by signing up for local alerts, safe-guarding important documents, and taking other low cost and no cost preparedness actions to lessen the impact of disasters and emergencies for you and your family.
  • Teach Youth About Preparedness: Talk to your children about preparing for emergencies and what to do in case you are separated. Reassure them by providing information about how they can get involved.

Esport Registration Underway

Registration is now underway for the new fall Esports league. The St. Joseph Parks, Recreation & Civic Facilities Department has partnered up with GGLeagues to bring these new video game leagues to the community. For a $30 registration fee, participants ages 8 and up will have the opportunity to play in a safe, online environment. This single fall registration fee will allow participants to play Madden 21, Fortnite, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros. Can't decide on which game you want to play? The registration fee covers all four leagues, so participants have the power to join as many or few leagues as they wish. Online registration runs through September 29, and league play will begin on October 4.

GGLeagues has an experienced team of moderators, referees, and league managers on staff for every game to ensure all participants stay within the code of conduct. All game chats are moderated and private to ensure your child can communicate safely with their component each week. In addition, all personal information on players' profiles are kept private, so you can feel safe knowing your child's info will never be shared with others. GGLeagues is also in full compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
National Suicide Prevention Month

Suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. In fact, suicide is often the result of an untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts, although common, should not be considered normal and often indicate more serious issues.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month with September 10 being World Suicide Prevention Day, as a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic. This month is used to reach out to those affected by suicide, raise awareness and connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services. It is also important to ensure that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention.

Help for You
Talking with someone about your thoughts and feelings can save your life. Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or connect online to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to get support. You can also find resources for:
  • Finding a therapist/support group
  • Building and using a support network
  • Making a safety plan for yourself

Help for Someone You Know
  • Call 911 if danger for self-harm seems imminent.
  • Ask them if they are thinking about killing themselves. This will not put the idea into their head or make it more likely that they will attempt suicide.
  • Listen without judgment and show you care.
  • Stay with the person or make sure the person is in a private, secure place with another caring person until you can get further help.
  • Remove any objects that could be used in a suicide attempt.
Online Reports

With evolving technology, the St. Joseph Police Department looked to find innovative police reporting options in an effort to streamline the process for those in our community who may be faced with challenges including their work schedules, COVID-19 restrictions, and the overall business of life. These options were designed for non-violent crimes and those that are not actively in-progress. While patrol officers continue to actively respond to calls for service and reporting incidents by phone is still available, citizens have the option to file a detailed police report online at their leisure from the comforts of their own home, workplace, or by using the kiosk located in the department lobby. 

Once a report is submitted online, reports are generally completed within 24 hours with the exception of weekends and holidays, which slightly delay the process. An email with the case number assigned to the report is sent back to the email address submitted on the online report. For this reason, ensuring that the email is correct before submitting is important. Email responses involving online vehicle crash reports also contain the crash report itself, so no further requests for a copy of a report are necessary.

All police reports are reviewed by a supervisor for quality control. Once a police report is made, a copy of the report is generally available in five to seven business days. There is a minimal fee for copies of reports. To request a copy, citizens can either call the records division at 271-4705 or physically request a copy at the records window located in the department's lobby.

To file an online report, visit the St. Joseph Police Department webpage.
South Side Fall Festival

Have plans next weekend? Head to the annual Southside Fall Festival September 17-19, as the festival celebrates 32 years in the community. The weekend features numerous vendors, entertainment and a parade on Saturday morning.

(816) 271-5300