Marketing - An Aid to Crime Prevention (From Burglary - A Social Reality, P 173-182, 1985, Satyanshu K Mukherjee and Leona Jorgensen, eds. - See NCJ-102649)

• NCJ Number: 102655
• Author(s): R I Melville
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This paper discusses how the principles of marketing research can aid the police in devising community crime prevention programs.

Abstract

Kotler defines marketing as 'human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes.' This applies to police crime prevention activities, which are designed to elicit behavior from citizens that will create a safer community. A crucial aspect of marketing research is the measurement of the effectiveness of various advertising strategies. A key element of police crime prevention strategies is the measurement of their effectiveness. Neighborhood watch programs, for example, must be analyzed in terms of each component's effectiveness. Components include domestic security surveys, property marking, and publicity campaigns. Successful marketing of crime prevention strategies must involve training all police to perform their duties according to proven techniques of crime prevention. Marketing also involves identifying and counteracting forces that undermine marketing goals. Factors that impede effective crime prevention include citizen reluctance to tell police about suspicious activity by another citizen, citizen complacency, a low priority for security in environmental design, economic factors, and police resistance to a crime prevention orientation. An important element of marketing is feedback designed to ensure that successful techniques and policies are maintained over time. An example of an effective feedback system is one used by the Mt. Lebonon Police Department (Pennsylvania), which involves a computerized system for contacting block captains in a neighborhood watch program. 6 references.