NCJ Number
85474
Date Published
1980
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the nature and impact of recent police and police-community crime prevention programs in the United States and provides guidelines for evaluating crime prevention programs.
Abstract
Studies indicate that reliance by the police on patrolling, rapid response and street interrogations as standard measures for crime prevention are not cost-effective, although they may be effective for a time when directed at particular crimes in particular circumstances. Team policing, which capsules the full range of policing services in a team of police who regularly work a relatively small geographical area, has its supporters, but empirical studies have yet to establish the effectiveness of this approach in reducing crime. The use of paraprofessionals to increase the number of persons trained to observe and appropriately respond to suspicious persons and crimes in progress has proven effective in reducing certain crimes, notably robbery and burglary. Crime prevention programs which use the police to elicit and train citizens to engage in crime preventive behavior include such activities as block watches, improved hardening of residences against burglary, and the marking of property to facilitate recovery of stolen property and the obtaining of burglary convictions. Such burglary-reduction programs require considerable coordination, personal contact, target-area organization, and periodic reinvigoration. Any crime prevention program instituted should include a workable evaluation design which includes the determination of measurable criteria of success. A selected bibliography of 34 listings is provided.