Crime Prevention Program

Crime Prevention Program

Introduction

There is no single definition for crime prevention. Different authors and studies offer varying definitions. Many early definitions actually used the term crime control either in place of crime prevention or within the definition. However, crime control alludes to maintenance of a given or existing level of crime and the management of that amount of crime behavior. True crime prevention looks to do more than just maintain a certain level of crime or to manage offenders and crime. Paul Ekblom offers a definition that revolves around interventions that reduce the risk of crime and its consequences. Such a definition addresses both crime and its impact on individuals and society.

One of the very important consequences of crime that should be addressed in prevention initiatives is the fear of crime. While most definitions of crime prevention incorporate the ideas of lessening the actual levels of crime or limiting further increases in crime, few specifically deal with the problem of fear of crime and perceived crime and victimization.

This entry examines crime prevention from a very broad perspective. Included here is a discussion of the history of crime prevention, different crime prevention models, and major crime prevention approaches, as well as insight into the effectiveness of prevention activities.

The Crime Prevention Program

Crime prevention encompasses a wide range of actions and activities, all geared toward reducing crime and/or the fear of crime. One way to organize the many approaches is to look at models of crime prevention. Perhaps the most recognized model is borrowed from the approaches found in the public health models of disease prevention. Paul Brantingham and Frederic Faust took this public health model and outlined an analogous crime prevention model.

Brantingham and Faust note that primary prevention within the realm of criminal justice “identifies conditions of the physical and social environment that provide opportunities for or precipitate criminal acts” (1976, p. 288). The types of prevention approaches subsumed here included environmental design, Neighborhood Watch, general deterrence, private security, and education about crime and crime prevention. Environmental design includes a wide range of crime prevention techniques aimed at making crime more difficult for the offender, surveillance easier for residents, and feelings of safety more widespread. The use of building plans conducive to visibility, the addition of lights and locks, and the marking of property for ease of identification fall within the realm of environmental design. Neighborhood watches and citizen patrols increase the ability of residents to exert control over their neighborhood and add risk of observation for potential offenders.

Activities of the criminal justice system also fall within the realm of primary prevention. The presence of the police may affect the attractiveness of an area for crime as well as lower the fear of crime. The courts and corrections may influence primary prevention by increasing perceived risk of crime for offenders. Public education concerning the actual levels of crime and the interaction of the criminal justice system and the public may also affect perceptions of ...