NCJ Number
83135
Date Published
1982
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Elements of the Urban Initiatives Anti-Crime Program, a crime prevention program for public housing in the United States, are outlined, and particular attention is given to operations in the areas of environmental design and resident organization and cohesion.
Abstract
The crime prevention elements of the Urban Initiatives Anti-Crime Program are in the broad areas of public housing authority responsibilities, programs by and for residents, and local government and private sector responsibilities. The array of environmental design strategies implemented by the various participating public housing authorities to reduce crime and fear can be divided into the categories of target hardening, access control, formal surveillance, natural surveillance, program support, and territorial reinforcement (outdoor spaces redesigned to foster a stronger sense of territoriality and related protective behavior). Efforts have been made to involve residents in decisions about which environmental design modifications to undertake. The most realistic approach has been to lay out all the options (from simplistic target hardening to sophisticated environmental design), let the residents refine and modify them, and then have them choose which approach to support. In the area of resident organizational development and self-help, efforts have involved the development of tenant organizations around crime prevention, resident patrols, block watches, and youth self-help development programs. Evaluation will determine the effectiveness of the various intervention strategies. It is expected that the salience of any one intervention strategy will be a partial function of the kinds of crime targeted, the nature of the target population and locale, and the political feasibility of coordination among other critical variables. Seventeen references are listed.