NCJ Number
84085
Journal
Crime and Social Justice Issue: 17 Dated: (Summer 1982) Pages: 51-54
Date Published
1982
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Community involvement in crime prevention, victim services, and a genuine full-employment program are more effective in reducing crime than the 'Police 'em. Jail 'em. Kill 'em' approach of the Reagan administration.
Abstract
Any serious anticrime effort must take note of the experiences of the various community programs throughout the country that have been established to deal with violent and nonviolent crime. These programs have included group neighborhood walks at night, projects to help street gangs and ex-offenders, neighborhood organizations oriented toward crime prevention, arson watches, escort services, and neighborhood centers that sponsor crime prevention activities. Until recently, little attention has been given to help for crime victims. Victim compensation programs have done much to relieve the losses suffered by crime victims. A logical next step would be a victim's bill of rights which could provide for witness compensation, protection against reprisals, prompt return of confiscated property, progress reports on the prosecution of offenders, free legal services, and restitution payments by the offender or the government. A serious anticrime program should also be linked to efforts to achieve full employment. All levels of government should aim at providing programs that develop jobs for the unemployed. This would include bills like the one introduced last April in the New York City Council, which would provide for hiring the unemployed to rehabilitate housing and retool abandoned industrial facilities and to work in the areas of energy conservation, waste recycling, mass transportation, and the expansion of maintenance services, as well as to improve basic social services.