NCJ Number
199814
Date Published
2003
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This paper examines some of the difficulties encountered in attempting to introduce ideas derived from research on repeat victimization to police services in crime prevention and detection in the United Kingdom, and lessons from repeat victimization in implementing problem-oriented policing.
Abstract
Research in a number of countries and in different policing contexts has consistently shown the presence of repeat victimization in relation to a range of offenses. A major challenge for police agencies is the development of ways to reduce the incidence of repeat victimization. This paper describes the United Kingdom research program on repeat victimization that first began in the early 1980's and the chronology of action taken to implant the idea into routine policing. The Home Office undertook initiatives to promote and engage police practitioners. The United Kingdom Government undertook a number of measures, discussed in the paper, to raise the profile of repeat victimization as an approach to crime prevention and detection. The remainder of the paper argues that the assumptions made by academics, dedicated to encourage research-based evidence into policing, were wrong. However, support of problem-oriented policing is strengthened by the belief that the present system of policing does not work well. Optimistically, policing in the United Kingdom can be significantly shifted towards a problem-oriented agenda and a hypothesis-based research and evidence driven agenda can be systematically introduced. References