NCJ Number
101340
Date Published
1982
Length
154 pages
Annotation
This 1981 study examined the effectiveness of a Minneapolis community crime prevention program designed to reduce burglary and residents' fear of crime.
Abstract
Block meetings encouraged residents to increase the use of physical security measures, participate in block surveillance activities, and integrate socially within the block, as well as improve cooperation with the police. Program staff believed these activities would reduce both burglary and the fear of crime. A matched control community was selected and compared with the experimental area on variables pertaining to burglary and the fear of crime. Police data on reported residential burglaries were obtained for control and experimental census tracts for years before and after program implementation (April 1977 through June 1978 and September 1979 through December 1980). Thirty-one completed self-administered questionnaires were submitted by residents of the control area, and residents of the experimental area submitted 41 questionnaires which solicited residents' participation in crime prevention activities, their fear of crime, and cooperation with police and other residents. There is no evidence the program reduced burglary, although this may have been due to methodological weaknesses. Apparently the program improved block surveillance, integration with neighbors, and the use of physical security measures among program participants, although the content and methodology for studying these variables need improvement. Implications are examined for future research methodology and criminal justice policy. Tabular and graphic data, study questionnaire, and 77-item bibliography.