The resiliency of crime prevention: selected narratives from around the world

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The resiliency of crime prevention selected
narratives from around the world

• Daniel SANSFAÇON, Ph.D
• Director General (interim)
• International Centre for the Prevention of Crime

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Summary

• Challenges of crime and safety
• Cities at work
• Elements of what makes it work
• Roadblocks
• Building bridges

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The ICPC

• An international network of governments, ngo s
  and UN organizations promoting safety
• Created in 1994 by the governments of Canada,
  France and Quebec, now 11 member governments
  Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, England,
  Hungary, Norway, South Africa and soon we hope,
  Czech Republic, New Zealand, Mexico, Queretaro
  (Mexico)
• Promoting safety as common good an issue of
  quality of life, good governance and prosperity
• Reducing crime, insecurity and victimization
  through effective prevention

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Challenges of Urbanization

• Rapidly increasing urbanization, growth of
  informal settlements
• Migration and immigration, leading to increasing
  cultural and ethnic minorities in cities
• Increasing disparities of income and access to
  services health and security long-term poverty
  and unemployment
• High proportions of children and young people in
  urban areas - almost half the urban poor
• Children and youth especially vulnerable to
  victimization, exploitation, and offending

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Pressures on Urban Governments

• Fear and insecurity and public pressures to
  respond to crime with repressive measures
• Privatization of policing and public space
  vigilante and mob justice
• Breakdown of traditional cultural values and
  social networks, and traditional family
  structures
• Impact of HIV/AIDS
• Increasing social exclusion of youth at risk and
  minority populations, and use of arbitrary
  justice
• Corruption and lack of public trust in
  government, culture of lawlessness

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Challenges of Public Safety

• When consulted, citizens and municipal leaders
  identify ordinary crime as key issue in public
  safety incivilities, vandalism, drug and alcohol
  use in public places...
• Insecurity in neighborhoods has significant
  implications for the democratic process, and
  economic and human development
• Crime and violence cost 14 of GDP for
  governments in South America and Africa, between
  6 to 9 in Western developed countries

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Crime and Insecurity Issues in Cities

• In the South, growing crime in urban areas,
  including violent and organized crime
• In the North, crime rates have dropped,
  insecurity is up
• Volume crime remains an issue, and so are
  incivilities
• Abuse of alcohol and illicit substances and
  firearms are key risk factors
• Emerging issues trafficking in human persons,
  sexual exploitation
• Violence against women and girls

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Cities at Work

• Reducing homicides Diadema, Brazil
• Reducing volume crime Perth, Australia
• Reducing youth crime Birmingham, England
• Enhancing women s safety Montreal, Canada
• Enhancing social inclusion of the poor
  eThekwini, South Africa
• Reducing insecurity related to drug use in the
  public sphere Liège, Belgium
• and many more

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What Do they Have in Common ?

• Not only but also the police
• Diversified and specific approaches
• Inclusive and participatory
• Local leadership and committment
• Information and results oriented
• Evaluation and respect
• Effectiveness is not about the programs or the
  process - Its about the people

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Building Sustainability

• Linking levels of government embeddedness and
  integration
• Specific roles at specific levels
• national / regional
• dedicated team of experts
• information dissemination on good practice
• training
• tools for diagnosis and evaluation
• local
• leadership
• rigorous process
• participation
• Examples UK, Canada

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Road Blocks

• Resistance to change building a culture of
  prevention
• Vested interests habits and power
• Sharing information and resourceschallenging
  cultures of secrecy
• Fingerpointing and Excluding the poor, the
  immigrants, youth...
• Using Information so evaluations do not collect
  dust

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Building Bridges...

• At international level UNODC, UN Habitat, WHO,
  ICPC
• At national / regional levels Health, Public
  Security, Justice, Education, regional and
  national NGOs
• At local level local government, police, health,
  local NGOs, private sector, citizens...

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Because We Share A Common Dream
BUILDING SAFE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AS GOOD,
JUST AND SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE
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Find More...
www.crime-prevention-intl.org