NCJ Number
78284
Date Published
1981
Length
456 pages
Annotation
Personal, home, and business security are addressed in this text on crime prevention as a community and individual commitment. Special attention is given to corruption, health care fraud, and crime against the elderly.
Abstract
Emphasizing that prevention is the most economical solution to crime and that preventive activities can eliminate crime committed by opportunists, this text reviews current theories on crime motivation, causes, prevention, and detection in a variety of settings for a variety of crimes. It presents statistics on some crimes and gives specific do's and don'ts for avoiding victimization. Sections on women, homeowners and renters, children, the elderly, travelers, and persons inside and outside the home deal with personal security. Specific crimes covered include robbery, burglary, sexual assault, child abuse, kidnapping, and rural crime. Material on business security includes prevention ideas to guard against shoplifting and employee theft, computer theft, embezzlement, racketeering, bad checks and credit card fraud, arson, bankruptcy fraud, transport crimes, and more. Both businesses and individuals are encouraged to survey their premises for vulnerability to criminals, and specific suggestions are made for types of locks, alarm and other security systems, landscaping, lighting, and doors and windows for maximum deterrence of criminals. Security surveys are included so that readers can evaluate their own prevention status. Finally, the text addresses community-based crime prevention, beginning with environmental design. The role of criminal justice agencies in prevention is examined, and attention is given to their activities directed at prevention -- police patrol, use of information systems in crime analysis, specialized police units, courts' victim-witness assistance bureaus, career criminal and similar programs, and special inmate programs. In addition, successful community-based prevention programs operating across the country are listed and briefly reviewed. The text closes with a look at trends and research in prevention. Bibliographic footnotes and an index are provided.