NCJ Number
152714
Journal
Criminology Australia Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (August 1994) Pages: 2-7
Date Published
1994
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses six possible options for police in Australia and other democracies to improve their efforts to prevent crime effectively.
Abstract
The first option, dishonest law enforcement, is the policy currently followed by the police, who promise to reduce crime if given more resources. Enhanced law enforcement, through additional personnel, harsher penalties for law breakers, and limitations on defendants' procedural rights, is the option usually favored by police. In the option referred to here as honest law enforcement, the police would give up the pretense of protecting the community against crime and would focus on its other two primary functions, namely, authoritative intervention and symbolic deterrence. The fourth option, determined crime prevention, would dedicate the police to the job of preventing crime. Efficient law enforcement, the fifth option, would require diverting resources away from existing police functions and applying them to crime prevention. Only the final option, stratified crime prevention, in which officers lower in the agency hierarchy would help to create policies for preventing crime, would create an organization that engages in crime prevention while keeping the organization subject to meaningful community oversight. 18 references