Crime Prevention History and Theory

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Crime PreventionHistory and Theory

• National Crime Prevention Council
• 2006

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Goal

• To provide community leaders, local government
  officials, private sector partners, faith-based
  organizations, and others with information on
  crime prevention that will enable them to
• create safer, more secure, and more vibrant
  communities.

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Objectives

• Review the different types of crime prevention
• Define crime prevention
• Examine the principles of crime prevention
• Review the history of crime prevention
• Identify the crime prevention strategies you can
  use to reduce the opportunities for crime in your
  community

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Types of Crime Prevention

• Punitive
• Corrective
• Protective

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Crime Prevention - Punitive

• criminal laws
• law enforcement
• Crime Stoppers
• courts
• jails and prisons

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Crime Prevention - Corrective

• employment
• education
• counseling
• mentoring
• Head Start
• D.A.R.E.

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Crime Prevention - Protective

• Neighborhood Watch
• Community Policing
• Public Education
• CPTED
• Homeland Security

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Crime Prevention Defined 1972

• Crime prevention is the anticipation,
• recognition and appraisal of a crime
• risk and the initiation of some action
• to remove or reduce it.
• Source
• National Crime Prevention Institute - 1972

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Crime Prevention Triangle (from a Criminals
View)
Desire
Ability
Opportunity
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Crime Prevention

• Crime prevention is proactive, rather than
  reactive.
• Proactive policing attempts to prevent the crime
  from occurring in the first place.
• Reactive policing responds to crime after it has
  occurred.

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Crime Prevention is Proactive

• It stops crime from happening in the first place.

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Crime Prevention is Proactive(Continued)

• To view the criminal justice flowchart and to see
  the full explanation go to
• www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/flowchart.htm

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Crime Prevention Defined 1990
Crime prevention is a pattern of attitudes and
behaviors directed at reducing the threat of
crime and enhancing the sense of safety and
security, to positively influence the quality of
life in our society, and to develop environments
where crime cannot flourish Source National
Crime Prevention Council - 1990
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Principles of Crime Prevention

• Crime Prevention Is
• everyones business
• more than security
• a responsibility of all levels of government
• linked with solving social problems and
• cost-effective
• Source National Crime Prevention Council

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Principles of Crime Prevention (Continued)

• Crime Prevention Requires
• a central position in law enforcement
• cooperation among all elements of the community
• education
• tailoring to local needs and conditions and
• continual testing and improvement
• Source National Crime Prevention Council

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Crime Prevention

• Improves the quality of life
• for every community.
• Source National Crime Prevention Council

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Techniques of Situational Prevention

• Increase the Effort
• Increase the Risks
• Reduce the Rewards
• Reduce Provocations
• Remove Excuses
• Source Ronald V. Clarke and John Eck (2003)
• View the complete resource at
• www.popcenter.org

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Community Policing Defined
Community Policing is an organization-wide philoso
phy and management approach that promotes
partnerships, proactive problem solving, and
community engagement to address the causes of
crime, fear of crime, and other community
issues. Source Community Policing Initiative -
1990s
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Sir Robert PeelConsidered a father of law
enforcement

• Are his principles of policing still applicable
  today?
• Absolutely!

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Sir Robert Peels Nine Principles of Policing

• 1. The basic mission for which the police exist
  is to prevent crime and disorder.
• 2. The ability of the police to perform their
  duties is dependent upon public approval of
  police actions.
• 3. Police must secure the willing cooperation of
  the public in voluntary observance of the law to
  be able to secure and maintain the respect of the
  public.

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Sir Robert Peels Nine Principles of Policing
(Continued)

• 4. The degree of cooperation of the public that
  can be secured diminishes proportionally to the
  necessity of the use of force.
• 5. Police seek and preserve public favor not by
  catering to public opinion but by constantly
  demonstrating absolute impartial service to the
  law.
• 6. Police use physical force to the extent
  necessary to secure observance of the law or to
  restore order only when the expertise of
  persuasion, advice and warning is found to be
  insufficient.

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Sir Robert Peels Nine Principles of Policing
(Continued)

• 7. Police at all time should maintain a
  relationship with the public that gives reality
  to the historic tradition the police are public
  and the public are the police. The police being
  only full-time individuals charged with the
  duties that are incumbent on all of the citizens.
• 8. Police should always direct their actions
  strictly towards their functions and never appear
  to usurp the powers of the judiciary.
• 9. The test of police efficiency is the absence
  of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence
  of police action in dealing with it.

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Opportunities to Commit Crime

• I can reduce the major crime rate in Hopetown,
  U.S.A. by 10 percent by implementing a crime
  prevention policy that does not involve any
• law enforcement participation?
• What crime is it?

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Opportunities to Commit Crime (Continued)
What type of crime prevention is this? How do we
reduce the opportunity?
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Crime Prevention Strategies
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Crime Prevention Programs

• CPTED
• Neighborhood Watch
• McGruff House
• Operation Identification
• And many others

• Personal safety
• Robbery prevention
• School safety
• Workplace safety
• Auto theft prevention

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Communities
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Communities

• Start a Neighborhood Watch program.
• Institute community beautification projects.
• Organize voluntary resident patrols.
• Demonstrate against landlords who rent property
  to drug dealers.
• Make young people part of your neighborhood
  improvement activities.
• Organize annual community events.
• Make sure the local newspaper covers good news
  about your neighborhood.
• Start a McGruff House program for children and
  youth.

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ApartmentsandCondos
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Apartment/Condo Safety

• Start an Apartment Watch program.
• Organize citizen patrols.
• Publish newsletters that update residents on news
  about crime and community activities, and that
  recognize residents.
• Start a McGruff House program.
• Organize annual events.

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Schools
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Safer Schools Parents

• Take an active role in your children's school.
• Act as role models.
• Set clear limits on behaviors in advance.
• Communicate clearly on violence issues.
• Help your children learn how to find solutions to
  problems.
• Insist on knowing your childrens friends.
• Work with other parents to develop standards for
  school-related events.
• Support school policies and rules that help
  create and sustain safety.
• Join with other parents to talk about violence
  and to discuss prevention.

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Safer Schools Principals

• Reward good behavior.
• Establish zero tolerance policies for weapons
  and violence.
• Establish a faculty-student committee to develop
  a safety plan.
• Work with juvenile justice authorities, community
  groups, and law enforcement on a safety plan.
• Offer training in anger management and other
• violence prevention skills.
• Involve every group within the school community
  in crafting solutions to violence.
• Involve parents.
• Develop and sustain a network with health care,
• mental health, and social work resources in the
  community.

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Safer Schools Students

• Refuse to bring weapons to school.
• Report any crime or suspicious behavior
  immediately.
• Learn how to manage your anger.
• Help others settle disputes peaceably.
• Set up a teen court.
• Become a peer counselor.
• Mentor a younger student.
• Start a school crime watch.
• Ask each student activity or club to adopt an
• anti-violence theme.
• Start a peace pledge campaign.
• Welcome new students and help them feel at home
  in your school.

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Safer Schools Teachers

• Set norms for behavior in your classroom.
• Invite parents to talk with you about their
  children.
• Learn how to recognize warning signs that a child
  may be headed for violence.
• Encourage and sponsor student-led antiviolence
  activities.
• Offer to serve on a team to develop and implement
  a safety plan.
• Enforce school polices that seek to reduce
  violence.
• Learn and teach conflict resolution and anger
  management skills.
• Incorporate discussions on violence and
  prevention in the curriculum.

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Workplace
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Workplace Safety

• Post evacuation plans in highly visible
  locations.
• Train employees in evacuation procedures.
• Include revocation of security privileges in
  termination procedures.
• Make fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and
  emergency preparedness kits readily available.
• Place keys and other personal items in a secure
  location.
• Protect computer equipment from surges.
• Protect fixed and portable computers from theft.
• Make sure smoke detectors, fire alarms, and
  sprinkler systems are installed and working.

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Identity Theft and Cyber Safety
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Identity Theft

• Dont give out personal information over the
  phone.
• Shred all documents.
• Dont use your mothers maiden name as a
  password.
• Minimize the identification information and the
  number of cards you carry.
• Dont carry your Social Security card, birth
  certificate, or passport with you, unless
  absolutely necessary.
• Dont put your telephone number or Social
  Security number on checks.
• Be careful when using ATM and phone cards.
• Pay attention to your billing cycles.

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Cyber Safety

• Never give out your name and personal information
  
• to others online.
• Dont send personal information over the
  Internet, by email, or over cellular phones.
• Dont use passwords that are obvious.
• Avoid break-ins by changing your password
  regularly and memorizing it.
• Never agree to meet face-to-face with someone
  youve met online.
• Never respond to messages from unfamiliar
  persons.
• Look for web pages that have a proper title,
  additional resources, or a person that you are
  able to contact.
• Know who are the authors or sponsors of the site.
  

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Questions and Answers
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Portions of this presentation are provided by
Patrick D. Harris Executive
DirectorVirginia Crime Prevention
Association1405 Westover Hills Blvd., Suite
6Richmond, VA 23225804-231-3800 FAX
804-231-3900email vaprevent_at_aol.comwebsite
vcpa.org
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The National Crime Prevention Council

• 1000 Connecticut Avenue, NW
• Thirteenth Floor
• Washington, DC 20036-5325
• 202-466-6272
• 202-296-1356 fax
• www.ncpc.org

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Presenter Contact Information