NCJ Number
93363
Date Published
1983
Length
97 pages
Annotation
Written by the coordinator of a Grand Rapids, Mich., community-based crime prevention program, this manual for training crime prevention organizers addresses program development, organizational tactics, evaluation, program maintenance, and generating resources.
Abstract
An introduction emphasizes that the success or failure of a crime prevention program depends first on how it is sold and last on the results it produces. The manual discusses assessing a neighborhood's physical and demographic characteristics, its crime problems, and residents' perceptions of crime. The chapter on program development covers organizational structure, linkages with existing organizations, stimulating citizen involvement, and developing leadership. Tactics to implement a crime prevention program are outlined, with attention to block or apartment watch, home security surveys, and operation identification. The manual provides detailed guidelines on organizing and implementing an apartment watch program and identifies followup programs, such as communications systems, putting out alerts on suspicious persons or vehicles, and logging criminal activities. It also considers monitoring, evaluation activities, and techniques to keep a program active and prevent boredom. Suggestions on resource generation first address matching crime prevention approaches to needs of special interest groups and then explore links with businesses and community organizations, noncash gifts, and funding. Finally, the manual reviews the responsibilities and problems encountered by a crime prevention organizer. The text provides supplementary materials such as sample forms, examples of neighborhood crime prevention programs, and checklists, along with lists of technical assistance sources and national crime prevention organizations and three references.