Crime Prevention Models and Police Community Relations
| Date | 01 October 1984 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8405700409 |
| Author | Ronald L. Boostrom,J. Joel Henderson |
| Published date | 01 October 1984 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DR.
RONALD
L. BOOSTROM, D. Crim.
Associate Professor. San Diego State University.
DR.
JOEL
J.HENDERSON,
Ph.D.
Associate Professor, San Diego State University.
CRIME
PREVENTION MODELS
AND
POLICE
COMMUNITY
RELATIONS
Introduction
An American criminologist has characterized efforts to promote
crime prevention policy as elusive and utopian. IIn spite of this.
increasing amounts of effort and resources are currently being
devoted to organizing crime prevention programmes. Every
community has a great variety of activities occurring at any given
time
that
may be classified as crime preventionefforts. Many of these
activities are not generally recognized or legitimated in crime
prevention planning. We have tended to adopt anarrow viewpoint
on what constitutes a legitimate crime prevention policy.
In this paper we will present aclassification scheme for analysing
specific kinds of crime preventionefforts, the role of citizens in crime
prevention, the relationship between citizens and criminal justice
agencies, and the type of expertise necessary for implementing these
crime prevention programmes.
The
proliferationofcrime prevention
activities in recent years has created an increasingly complex
relationship between citizen groups and the police. The police have
attempted to contain and control these crime prevention activities
and have attempted to steer them in adirection which willserve the
organizational needs
oflaw
enforcement agencies. This has often led
to tension between the perception of citizen groups active in crime
prevention and the police. The police perspective tends to discount
and downgrade much of the crime preventionactivity ongoing in any
community.
Our
purpose here is to broadenthe discussion
of
crime prevention
beyond the usual police perspective. We hope to play a part in
legitimating a more holistic viewpoint on crime prevention and the
community inter-relationships involved. Within this expanded
perspective on crime prevention we may find pointsof conflict as well
as opportunities for cooperation between citizen groups and the
police.
Because we have become cynical and resigned, to greater extent,
about
crime and disorder, we have a tendency to view many crime
prevention efforts as utopian. No real consensus exists on the best
direction for the future. This allows ourimmediateinterests to colour
our
viewpoint on various crime preventionactivities. At the moment,
October 1984 373
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