NCJ Number
91270
Date Published
1983
Length
158 pages
Annotation
Eight indepth case studies of effective crime prevention efforts demonstrate that an alliance between community residents, police officials, and city administrators is crucial to successful results.
Abstract
The report presents five community-based crime prevention prototypes in Detroit; Sangamon County and Springfield, Ill.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Denver; and Philadelphia; and three statewide programs in Pennsylvania, California, and Texas. In addition, it examines locations that have an especially low crime rate, even within areas where overall per capita crime rates are among the country's highest. In Detroit, about one-third of the city's 12,000 city blocks have been organized into Neighborhood Watch groups, and crime reduction has been made an integral part of budgetary planning. An 85 percent reduction in crime rates has been achieved in parts of Sangamon County, while Springfield has significantly reduced its burglaries. Jacksonville has made great strides in improving its police services, reduced costs to the community, and incorporated more than one million volunteered man-hours into crime prevention efforts through its Integrated Crime Apprehension Program (ICAP). Denver's New Pride, Inc., has cut down the incarceration of juvenile offenders and gotten more than 40 percent of program participants to return to school after completing the program. In Philadelphia, grassroots neighborhood organizations have been instrumental in reducing arson and drug trafficking problems. On a per capita basis, Pennsylvania has more successful crime prevention programs than any other State. California has pioneered the way in financial and psychological aid to crime victims, while the Texas Crime Prevention Institute has become a leading center for teaching crime prevention techniques to police from Texas and other States. Tables, study methodology, and 43 references are provided.