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1 Crime Prevention in Communities Crime Prevention in Communities Haley E. Hogue CMRJ306: Criminal Investigation Dr. Jarrod Sadulski August 21, 2022

2 Crime Prevention in Communities There is one major issue across the United States that impacts every community and is it the ever increasing crime rates. Crime is defined as conduct that violates law. Crime harms communities because it reduces safety, creates chaos and disrupts the trust and order of the community. This proves the undeniable belief that there must be change in order to create safer environments and to do so successful crime prevention methods must be created. In order to create success it is important to look to the past and analyze and grow from what has already been tried. Evaluating crime prevention methods helps to minimizing criminal activity in areas by targeting reoccurring criminal offenses. By considering which crimes are happening in which areas there is promise in creating specific methods for each community’s needs. There are many different perspectives of crime prevention from that of law enforcement agencies to those of social groups but both have a common goal. If communities work together with law enforcement it amplifies the ability to prevent crime. Crime prevention methods can improve society by ensuring the safety and security of communities. Community representatives are the link between the state and the local community. Communities play a vital role in crime prevention. The responsibility of crime prevention is the responsibility of the community in cooperation with more formal organization such as local law enforcement. Crime has several motives which need to be addressed by the community, not law enforcement alone. Different communities have different needs in relation to crime prevention, which may go beyond preventing everyday criminal acts. Some communities require more than others which lead to more personalized crime prevention programs. While crime is different in

3 Crime Prevention in Communities different areas it is still crucial to develop comprehensive programs for individual communities to stem their programs from. Crime prevention does not have linear development, but the measures that have been developed are on the right track to successful policies. Crime prevention is developed by analyzing past programs and methods in order to adequately progress. Researchers have analyzed crime prevention methods and devised many programs that are implemented today. These methods are implemented through many different organizations from community based to law enforcement. Crime prevention methods vary from community based programs to different field operations. While there are many different ways to prevent crime, one is not superior to the other. There are many methods of crime prevention, from increasing surveillance and patrols to training programs and counseling. When analyzing crime prevention, it is difficult to obtain level of certainty which can make it difficult to properly dissect crime prevention programs. Crime prevention programs can be broken into three categories; what works, what doesn’t work, and what might work or is promising. An example of a method that does not work within police departments is increasing patrol in high crime areas; this method decreases the amount of crime in that singular area only. This has been argued as an effective approach but is futile for communities that don’t statistically show having high crime rates. This method falls short for those areas that are not higher in crime but are still effecting by the impacts of criminal activity. In some communities, programs such as D.A.R.E and peer counseling in schools have been implemented but have not proved to decrease crime. These programs fail to reduce drug abuse and delinquency in youth. These programs are often not successful for a series of reasons, one being they are not utilized in every community, with the programs only reaching some

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4 Crime Prevention in Communities communities they lack effectiveness overall. Programs like D.A.R.E lack funding and cannot be properly implemented in a way to prove effective. These programs are also frequently used as a way to deter youth and create fear rather than educating and providing students with guidance and skills to use critical thinking in order to make ethical decisions. If students are not provided with the skills to make ethical decisions they cannot be expected to educated enough to sway away from delinquency. Adequate programs in school are important to preventing crime because they can target the actual causes of crime. In order to create crime prevention programs that work, the root cause must be addressed. The root causes of crime can be summarized into three categories; economic factors, social environment, and family structures. By reducing risk and establishing resiliency programs for children, crime can decrease. The way children live and stressors within families heavily impact crime rates. Economic factors such as poverty create lack of educational opportunities’ employment options, and adequate housing can cause individuals to search for less than ethical means of income. Poor social environments can lead to communities lacking values and a sense of priorities. When neighborhoods lack leadership and services there is less value places on the well-being of children and can lead to an absence of proper decision making skills. Family structures directly contribute to the rates of delinquency by children in communities. Parents are tasked with raising responsible and benevolent members of society. The root causes of crime start young and at home so by creating community based programs it directly impacts the future rates of crime. While many crime prevention programs fall short, there are some programs that are working and some that have even shown the potential to work. Programs that create safe spaces for children and provide strong leadership are important in communities. Some programs such as

5 Crime Prevention in Communities community based mentorship and after school recreation programs have shown to reduce delinquency and juvenile crime. These programs provide leadership to those children who lack adequate family structures and social environments and lead children to make more ethical decisions. Strong leadership provides children with leadership skills that can allow children to have control of their lives, have confidence, and develop responsibility which reduce juvenile delinquency. While child bases programs are important, there are successful programs that impact individuals later in life. Programs that reduce repeat offenses can also prove to reduce crime. Vocational education programs for adult inmates and residential job training for at risk youth can reduce felonies and repeat offenses. In order to reduce recidivist rates in communities, programs must be created to assist and encourage offenders to regain control of their lives and find ethical means of employment. By providing education and opportunities to communities that are more susceptible to continuing generational patterns, it can reduce risk factors and economic factors that lead to crime. When communities are lacking opportunities to pull them away from drug related crime and violent gang activities they are more receptive to the idea of a less resistant direction. If communities are provided more resources, it is likely that crime may reduce. When communities lack resources, it is likely crime will increase in those communities. Communities with low resources and poor conditions are more susceptible to drug related crime, as well as violent crime. Improvement of community conditions such as education, housing, economic development, and workforce development are important in reducing at risk youth and economic factors. Many community organizations and even faith bases organization have attempted to make a conscious effort to participate in crime reduction efforts to increase public safety. Charities that help homelessness and people living in poverty can directly impact crime

6 Crime Prevention in Communities rates. It is suggested that poverty and low income communities are positively related to crime. When communities and law enforcement ignore the underlying causes of crime that result from poverty such as hunger and lack of medical treatment they are ignorant when it comes to designing effective programs. Economic factors are associated with crime because sometimes crime provides an opportunity for individuals in impoverish circumstances to obtain resources they could not otherwise afford. Economic factors can sometimes oblige citizens to place their own needs over what may be ethical. Other prevention methods that are promising are drug treatment and proactive strategies such as monitoring by community workers and probation and police officers. This strategy is done by controlling a situation rather than responding to it in order to deter crime. Essentially being proactive by providing critical thinking skills and education, making support to past offenders and drug users, and increasing dynamic policing, it is seen to potentially alleviate the increasing crime rates. In short, providing assistance to at risk youth and communities in need is more beneficial than creating fear and chastising delinquency. A survey by the U.S Department of Justice has revealed that many citizens believe that crime is inevitable and that it is the problem law enforcement, not their own. While the consensus of law enforcement officials is that it is not their task to take on alone. Communities and law enforcement both are culpable when they put the responsibility of safety on security on others. Crime prevention should be implemented by everyone in the community, from law enforcement to community workers to citizens. By putting efforts of crime reduction on police alone it creates breaks in the continuity of successful mitigation of crime. Without a strong relationship of mutual trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities in which they serve policing is ineffective and does

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7 Crime Prevention in Communities not maintain public safety. Law enforcement officials need the cooperation of the community to provide information about crime happening that goes unreported. Law enforcement also cannot be held responsible for devising solutions for juvenile delinquency for communities because they cannot reflect and incorporate community values. Police can design programs but cannot always implement them. Implementation of police designed community based programs is important because the police have an obligation to ensure that citizens are protected. These programs are not successful if they are implemented by only an individual organization. Crime prevention is a collaborative effort among the police, the citizens of the neighborhoods, and community leaderships. Police are responsible for creating programs that provide communities with the skills to protect themselves and be self-sufficient. Police designed community based programs provide citizens with educational programs to learn how to provide themselves with protection and be informed with what is required for themselves to remain law abiding members of the community. These programs are also meant to provide the community with a sense of safety and the information that is needed to stay involved in crime prevention and existing crime reduction programs/methods. Many successful crime prevention programs are implemented by the community such as community mentorship, recreation programs, and neighborhood watches. Even though these programs can and should be implemented by the communities, there is still a political and economic role. Funding, resources, and the decision making process are often out of local community members hands. Aside from fundraising and petitions members of the community may have to leave some decisions to government organizations such as the Office of Justice Programs and government officials who provide resources to improve the nation’s capacity to

8 Crime Prevention in Communities prevent crime, research policies, and fund programs. Local and state police departments as well as government agencies work to enforce the law and maintain public safety and internal security. Local community members can participate in surveys, neighborhood watch programs, police initiatives, projects, and programs, and even vote. Crime is a problem for every person within a community, therefore the role of implementing and managing programs to reduce crime falls on everyone. While it is often a misconception to believe that crime prevention methods, programs, and policies only fall on the backs of law enforcement, it is not a new or unusual idea that it is the entire community's part to play. Through research and further analysis of current and potential crime prevention methods it is hopeful that crime rates can be reduced. While impractical to believe crime can be eradicated completely, it is possible to control and prevent crime by being proactive. By creating programs to support communities and increase in policing there is potential to see change through communities in the United States. The role of creating these programs and policies fall upon every member of these communities, and when there is more aid and opportunities provided reconstruction is attainable. Crime prevention is an ever changing world. There are strategies that simply do not work but there are strategies that have shown promise and even made change. Crime will change with time, therefore prevention methods and programs will need to change with it. Programs that are seen as promising today may not be as successful tomorrow. Therefore there should be constant research and development in crime prevention programs. The world of crime prevention will never be perfected but hopefully one day can be efficient enough that is will not be a persistent dilemma. One thing that is improbable to stop being effective is helping communities socially and economically. Community is the basis of society and is fundamental in creating a future

9 Crime Prevention in Communities generation of safety and security. Strong communities are needed to create benevolent citizens and reduce crime.

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10 Crime Prevention in Communities Works Cited Frank, Cheryl. “WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? Social Crime Prevention in SA: A Critical Overview.” South African Crime Quarterly , no. 6, 2016. Crossref , https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2003/v0i6a1051 . Lawrence W. Sherman, Denise C. Gottfredson, Doris L. MacKenzie, John Eck, Peter Reuter, And Shawn D. Bushway. (1998). Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising . National Institute of Justice. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/171676.pdf Poyner, Barry, and Research Consultancy. WHAT WORKS in CRIME PREVENTION: AN OVERVIEW of EVALUATIONS. https://www.popcenter.org/sites/default/files/library/crimeprevention/volume_01/01poyner.pdf Koch, Brigitte C M. Politics of Crime Prevention. 2019. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429438547/politics-crime- preventionbrigitte-koch Tilley, Nick. Handbook of Crime Prevention and Community Safety . Willan, 2011.

11 Crime Prevention in Communities Pearson, L. “Crime Prevention: Whose Duty? Whose Responsibility? | Office of Justice Programs.” Crime Prevention: Whose Duty? Whose Responsibility? , 1998, www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/crime-prevention-whose-duty-whose- responsibility . Federal Bureau of Investigation. “FBI Crime Data Explorer.” FBI Crime Data Explorer , 2022, https://crime-data-explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/home CS&CPC. (n.d.). The Root Cause of Crime . CRS, Importance of Police-Community Relationships and Resources for Further Reading

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