NCJ Number
85986
Date Published
1982
Length
81 pages
Annotation
This report presents the development, operations, and evaluation of Baltimore's Neighborhood Action Team (NAT), a program designed to reduce residential burglaries.
Abstract
In response to the dramatic increase in property crimes in Baltimore County (Md.) from 1970 to 1980, the Baltimore County Police Department established NAT, which was given responsibility for community crime prevention programming. The objectives of NAT were to (1) organize a minimum of six target neighborhoods into cohesive crime prevention operations; (2) produce a decrease in the incidence of burglary and larceny within the targeted communities; (3) train police officers in the basic concepts of crime prevention; (4) establish, coordinate, and monitor crime prevention programs at the precinct level; and (5) obtain greater community involvement and increase citizen knowledge of crime prevention through instructional programs. NAT operated an integrated battery of programs, including Neighborhood Block Watch, Operation Identification, and home security surveys. The total project was $289,628 from October 1979 to December 1981. The targeted areas showed a 19.3 percent decrease in residential burglaries, while the control areas showed a burglary increase of 23 percent, meaning that without the program, burglaries would have been 42.3 percent more than they were. Projecting the average loss per residential burglary as $621.00, the net operating cost of the project was $263,546. Intangible benefits such as relief from psychological suffering should also be considered. Recommendations for improving the project are offered. Tabular data are provided, and crime prevention activities in each target community are reviewed.