NCJ Number
96396
Date Published
1984
Length
146 pages
Annotation
The crime prevention program of the Pima County Sheriff's Department (Arizona) is discussed.
Abstract
The Sheriff's Department has designed a broad-based volunteer organization, Sheriff's Auxiliary Volunteers (SAV), that emphasizes crime prevention as its primary goal. More than 600 citizens have been trained to assist in a coordinated crime prevention effort since the program's inception in 1981. Between 1981 and 1984, burglaries were reduced by 32 percent and larcenies by 16 percent; in 1983 alone, burglaries were reduced by 12 percent, and larcenies by 8 percent. Although the crime rate has decreased, the service population has increased, up from 190,000 in 1981 to more than 210,000 in 1984. Attention is focused on the volunteer movements in Tucson as well as in other Pima County communities such as Ajo and Green Valley; further, programs designed to reduce commercial and residential crime are examined. In addition, the department's child molestation prevention program is described, and various special activities in which the sheriff's department is involved are identified, including displays at the annual Crime Prevention Fair at local shopping malls, the Pima County Fair, the New Home Show, and other seasonal crime prevention events. Copies of a newsletter published by the sheriff's department, newspaper articles on the program, and letters of support are included. Finally, a pictorial review of the program is provided.