Policing Problem Places: Crime Hot Spots and Effective Prevention

Transcription

1 University Press Scholarship Online You are looking at 1-10 of 80 items for: keywords : crime prevention Policing Problem Places: Crime Hot Spots and Effective Prevention Anthony A. Braga and David L. Weisburd Published in print: 2010 Published Online: September 2010 ISBN: eisbn: Item type: book acprof:oso/ In this book, Anthony A. Braga and David L. Weisburd make the case that hot spots policing is an effective approach to crime prevention that should be engaged by police departments in the United States and other countries. There is a strong and growing body of rigorous scientific evidence that the police can control crime hot spots without simply displacing crime problems to other places. Indeed, putting police officers in high crime locations is an old and well established idea. However, the age and popularity of this idea does not necessarily mean that it is being done properly. Police officers should strive to use problemoriented policing and situational crime prevention techniques to address the place dynamics, situations, and characteristics that cause a spot to be hot. Braga and Weisburd further suggest that the strategies used to police problem places can have more or less desirable effects on police community relations. Particularly in minority neighborhoods where residents have long suffered from elevated crime problems and historically poor police service, police officers should make an effort to develop positive and collaborative relationships with residents and not engage strategies that will undermine the legitimacy of police agencies, such as indiscriminant enforcement tactics. This book argues that it is time for police departments to shift away from a focus on catching criminal offenders and move towards dealing with crime at problem places as a central crime prevention strategy. Not Getting Them Young Ted Gest in Crime and Politics: Big Government's Erratic Campaign for Law and Order Published in print: 2001 Published Online: Page 1 of 6

2 ISBN: eisbn: Violent crime is committed disproportionately by young men, but government never has conducted a coherent, aggressive campaign against serious juvenile delinquency. The fragmentation has been evident since the late 1960s, when federal authority was divided between health and justice agencies. A 1974 law created a federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to take charge. The law set progressive standards, but the administration of Ronald Reagan tried to kill the agency in the early 1980s and downgraded it after Congress refused to end funding. The Reagan Justice Department did forge an alliance with the MacArthur Foundation to start a longterm study of juvenile crime's causes. Meanwhile, a steady increase in arrests of juveniles prompted to require that more teen suspects be tried in adult courts, even when studies showed the tactic ineffective in preventing repeat criminality. Congressional Republicans helped enact a large juvenile accountability program designed to provide federal aid to programs that got tough on young lawbreakers. Some measures failed on a broad scale, such as boot camps aimed at instilling more discipline in delinquents. Despite many promising crime prevention programs, the Congress under Republicans control starting in 1995 generally refused to fund them. Juvenile crime arrests declined sharply since the mid 1990s, but there was no solid proof of what caused the change, whether government programs, the improved economy, or a lower number of teens in the population. Capitol Crime Extravaganza Ted Gest in Crime and Politics: Big Government's Erratic Campaign for Law and Order Published in print: 2001 Published Online: ISBN: eisbn: The high crime rates of the early 1990s and a string of sensational crimes from coast to coast set the stage in 1994 for the most extensive and costly federal anticrime bill ever. Bill Clinton had made crime fighting a top priority, particularly after his health care reform bill had faltered. Congress had taken the initiative, led by Democrats Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware and Representative Charles Schumer of New York. The Democrats came up with a way to put $30 billion for anticrime programs into a trust fund created by a reduction in the federal bureaucracy. Soon it seemed that Clinton's 100,000 community police officers, a Republican demand for more prisons, and various other Page 2 of 6

3 programs to combat violence against women and other crime problems all could be funded. Republicans backed off support of big allocations for crime prevention ideas like midnight basketball for teens, and the National Rifle Association fought against a proposed ban on assault style weapons. The result was a donnybrook that kept Congress in session through most of the summer. Republicans eventually won a series of concessions on funding, although the assault weapon provision survived and the law was passed. In the process, Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill was seen as so flawed that the crime law played a significant part in the Republicans seizing control of the House of Representatives in the 1994 elections. Five years later, the crime law's impact on crime rates was uncertain; in fact, crime had begun to fall long before many of its provisions could have had much effect. Smarter Ways to Fight Crime Ted Gest in Crime and Politics: Big Government's Erratic Campaign for Law and Order Published in print: 2001 Published Online: ISBN: eisbn: By 2001, the federal government was spending more than $5.3 billion each year to help states and cities combat crime, on top of the many billions allocated locally. In many instances, the money was going to programs that had not been shown to have much effect on crime. Many ideas have been proved worthwhile, however, and deserve more support. They include cohesive community anticrime campaigns, targeted drug treatment, prevention aimed at young people who show crime tendencies, plugging leaks in the criminal justice system, better news media reporting of crime issues, wiser use of the private sector, and dampening the political rhetoric on crime. As crime has become such a political football, relatively little attention has been paid to serious research on the issue compared with the amount devoted to medicine, for example. The danger in the early 21st century was that as crime rates went down, government would downgrade even further its efforts to determine what worked and did not work in the past four decades. That could be a big mistake if crime rates started again to increase, a distinct possibility in view of downturns in the economy and more young people in the population. Page 3 of 6

4 Fighting Crime Without Punishment Randy E. Barnett in The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law Published in print: 2000 Published Online: ISBN: eisbn: In a legal system based on pure restitution and self defence combined with enhanced reliance on several property and freedom of contract, the ability to effectively prevent crime rather than deter its commission by ex post punishment is greatly enhanced. Unlike public property, several property creates incentives to invest in crime prevention and the ability to exclude dangerous persons before they can act. Freedom of contract makes possible far more responsive law enforcement agencies than can be provided by a coercive monopoly. While pure restitution will not deter all criminal behaviour, it is a fallacy to believe that increased deterrence invariably or logically follows, increasing the severity of punishment. Restitution increases the incentives to catch and prosecute defendants, thus increasing the rate at which legal sanctions are imposed. The Empirical Evidence for Hot Spots Policing Anthony A. Braga and David L. Weisburd in Policing Problem Places: Crime Hot Spots and Effective Prevention Published in print: 2010 Published Online: September 2010 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Evidence based crime prevention is a part of a larger and increasingly expanding movement in social policy to use scientific research evidence to guide program development and implementation. In general terms, this movement is dedicated to the improvement of society through the utilization of the highest quality scientific evidence on what works best. In this chapter, the strengths and weaknesses of common research designs, such as randomized experiments, are described in order to place our discussion of prioritization of research findings in context. Results of three rigorous research reviews that assess the crime prevention value of hot spots policing are then presented. The important issue of whether focused police efforts in hot spot areas lead to displacement of crime to other locations or a diffusion of crime control benefits to nearby locations is also considered. Using scientific Page 4 of 6

5 evaluation evidence as a criterion, there is substantial support for the crime prevention effectiveness of hot spots policing. Conclusion: Improving Policing by Focusing on Problem Places Anthony A. Braga and David L. Weisburd in Policing Problem Places: Crime Hot Spots and Effective Prevention Published in print: 2010 Published Online: September 2010 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ Research suggests that it is time for police to shift from person based policing to hot spots policing. While such a shift is largely an evolution in trends that have begun over the last few decades, it will nonetheless demand radical changes in data collection in policing, in the organization of police activities, and particularly in the overall world view of the police. Hot spots policing should be privileged over traditional methods of crime prevention because it is rooted in an evidence based model of police practices, seeks to change crime places rather than criminal offenders, and for its potential to improve police legitimacy among community members. This final chapter presents summary arguments for hot spots policing and then discusses some of operational changes necessary in American police departments to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities for crime prevention in focusing on problem places. How Might Surveillance Measures Reduce Crime? Brandon C. Welsh and David P. Farrington in Making Public Places Safer: Surveillance and Crime Prevention Published in print: 2009 Published Online: May 2012 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter investigates how surveillance measures can reduce crime. It explains that public-area surveillance falls under the category of situational-crime prevention, which stands apart from these other strategies by its singular focus on the setting or place in which criminal acts take place, as well as its crime-specific focus. The chapter discusses the core assumption of both opportunity and informal social-control models of prevention that criminal opportunities and risks are influenced by environmental conditions in interaction with resident and offender characteristics. Thus, though street lighting, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, and some physical design changes to buildings Page 5 of 6

6 and parks do not constitute a physical barrier to crime, they can act as a catalyst to stimulate crime reduction through a change in the perceptions, attitudes, and behavior of residents and potential offenders. Prevention of Crime O.P. Mishra in Policing Delhi: Urbanization, Crime, and Law Enforcement Published in print: 2012 Published Online: September 2012 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter focuses on the actions that can be adopted to prevent crime. These measures are very closely connected to the crimogenic factors are considered to be responsible for overall functioning of the criminal justice system, as well as crime. It begins with a look at the approaches adopted for the prevention of crime, including deterrence, rehabilitation, and retribution. The next is on the role of police in preventing crime, which also addresses some practical issues. Popular crime prevention approaches and other community policing schemes that are adopted by the Delhi police are also considered. Finally, chapter ends with a section on the helpline services for certain groups and the deployment of police and the crime rate in Delhi. The Politics of Surveillance for Crime Prevention Brandon C. Welsh and David P. Farrington in Making Public Places Safer: Surveillance and Crime Prevention Published in print: 2009 Published Online: May 2012 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter examines the political aspect of surveillance for crime prevention. It provides the background on the different forms of surveillance that are designed to prevent crime in public places, and charts key historic and recent developments which have shaped the use of the major forms of surveillance to prevent crime in public places. The chapter describes some of the most widely used crime-prevention systems, including street lighting and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, and evaluates their social costs. Page 6 of 6