CRIMINALITY: TACTICS AND PREVENTION (4)

Gbolahan Samuel Moronfolu

Crime Prevention and Public Policy

Crime prevention has come to mean many different things to many different people. Programs and policies designed to prevent crime can include the police making an arrest as part of an operation to deal with gang problems, a court sanction to a secure correctional facility, or, in the extreme, a death penalty sentence.

These measures are more correctly referred to as crime control or repression. More often, though, crime prevention refers to efforts to prevent crime or criminal offending in the first instance — before the act has been committed.

Both forms of crime prevention share a common goal of trying to prevent the occurrence of a future criminal act, but what further distinguishes crime prevention from crime control is that prevention takes place outside of the confines of the formal justice system. In this respect, prevention is considered the fourth pillar of crime reduction, alongside the institutions of police, courts, and corrections (Waller 2006). This distinction draws attention to crime prevention as an alternative approach to these more traditional responses to crime.

There are many possible ways of classifying crime prevention programs. An influential scheme distinguishes four major strategies (Tonry and Farrington 1995b).

Developmental prevention refers to interventions designed to prevent the development of criminal potential in individuals, especially those targeting risk and protective factors discovered in studies of human development (Tremblay and Craig 1995; Farrington and Welsh 2007).

Community prevention refers to interventions designed to change the social conditions and institutions (e.g., families, peers, social norms, clubs, and organizations) that influence offending in residential communities (Hope 1995).

Situational prevention refers to interventions designed to prevent the occurrence of crimes by reducing opportunities and increasing the risk and difficulty of offending (Clarke 1995b; Cornish and Clarke 2003).

Criminal justice prevention refers to traditional deterrent, incapacitative, and rehabilitative strategies operated by law enforcement and agencies of the criminal justice system (Blumstein, Cohen, and Nagin 197; MacKenzie 2006).

Crime prevention is best viewed as an alternative approach to reducing crime, operating outside of the formal justice system. Developmental, community, and situational strategies define its scope.

Developmental prevention has emerged as an important strategy to improve children’s life chances and prevent them from embarking on a life of crime. The theoretical support for this approach is considerable and there is growing evidence based on the effectiveness of a range of intervention modalities.

Community crime prevention benefits from a sound theoretical base. It seemingly holds much promise for preventing crime, but less is known about its effectiveness. Advancing knowledge on this front is a top priority. Nevertheless, there are a wide range of effective models in community-based substance-use prevention and school-based crime prevention. The theoretical origins of situational crime prevention are wide ranging and robust. The strategy boasts a growing evidence base of effective programs and many more that are promising. There is also evidence that crime displacement is a rare occurrence.

Crime prevention is an important component of an overall strategy to reduce crime and is widely supported by the public over place and time. A special focus on implementation science and higher quality evaluation designs will further advance crime-prevention knowledge and practice. Striking a greater balance between crime prevention and crime control will go a long way toward building a safer, more sustainable society.

Crime Prevention Tips

These personal safety awareness tips are for various situations.

Pickpocketing

According to the current Police reports of 2021, pickpocketing incidents increase during the months of August, September and October, obviously during the start of the school year. In the majority of the reported incidents, the victim had their wallet removed from their backpack front compartment, a common location where students put their wallets. Carry your bag in front of you. Gentlemen, carry your wallet in your front pocket.

Common locations where thieves target victims:

• At bus stops – Thief one walks in front of you pretending to board a vehicle while the second thief is behind you, bumps into you removing your property (cell phone, wallet, etc)

• In a crowded bus or train – removing your wallet from your backpack front compartment. Pickpockets thieves look like you and usually work in a team of two or three.

Four Ways to Increase Your Personal Safety

1. Reduce or eliminate opportunities that may make you a target.

2. Increase awareness in places where you’re most comfortable.

3. Trust your instincts even if you feel embarrassed.

4. Prepare your schedule daily with safety in mind.

• Be AWARE of your surroundings at all times and trust your INSTINCTS.

• Stay in well lit, populated pathways. Avoid shortcuts.

• Travel in groups. There’s always safety in numbers.

• Walk with your head upright. Make eye contact. Thieves often target victims who are not paying attention to their surroundings or who are looking down.

• Pay attention to your surroundings when using electronics on the streets, and buses. Don’t TUNE yourself out. DON’T WALK AND TEXT.

• Don’t display electronics when not in use..

• Change the color of your earphones from “White” to any other color. White earphones usually indicate that you have an APPLE DEVICE which is an attractive target for thieves.

• Avoid traveling through parks after dark.

• Before entering your apartment building, have your keys ready. Don’t hold doors for anyone whom you don’t know.

• If you observe anyone acting in a suspicious manner, or if you feel threatened in any way, call the police immediately by dialing 08033011052, 08056250710, or 08033183477

*Moronfolu is a seasoned security consultant with many years of security and policing experience. FELLOW, Fourth Estate Professional Society (FFPS), he has also partaken in peace keeping operations within and outside the country and has flair for general security education.