NCJ Number
80191
Date Published
Unknown
Length
67 pages
Annotation
This packet of materials prepared by Safer Neighborhoods Are Possible (SNAP), a community crime prevention program in Bucks County, Pa., covers strategies for organizing block groups, meeting agendas, evaluations, office management, and crime prevention publications.
Abstract
Sponsored by the Lower Bucks Community Center, SNAP seeks to promote increased community spirit and reduce crime and vandalism through block organizations and informational materials. Suggestions for SNAP organizers detail methods for selling the concept, describe types of resistance to neighborhood groups that might be encountered, and provide checklists and agendas for block meetings. Guidelines for evaluating a group's progress are presented, as are instructions for routine administrative tasks, such as letters sent to meeting hosts, followup calls, and report writing. Records that should be maintained on organizing activities and block groups are described. Other materials discuss SNAP's philosophy and police-community relations. A guide for organizers trained by SNAP addresses techniques for leading discussions and identifies topics that the three or four meetings necessary to establish a group should consider. Ideas which are introduced at these sessions include Operation Identification, compilation of an address list, and demonstrating the freon horn. The police usually are invited to attend the second meeting. At the final meeting, the organizer explains the calling chain concept which offers a systematic means of communication and facilitates leadership selection. Sample letters, guidelines for block captains, a neighborhood survey questionnaire, evaluation forms, and crime prevention pamphlets distributed by SNAP are included.