Community Crime Prevention: A Review Essay On Program Evaluations And Policy Implications

Abstract

Rising crime rates through the 1980s suggest that traditional methods of policing society (i.e., police patrol and arrest) are not fully effective in controlling criminal victimizations. Analysis of community crime prevention programs suggests that while such programs tend to be favorably received by the public and the police, they only infrequently reduce crime. Evaluation research in this area tends to suggest that the apparent failures of crime prevention programs do not result from inappropriate conceptualization, but rather stem from inadequate program implementation and subsequent monitoring. This article examines the evaluation studies usually done as part of community crime prevention programs and addresses the methodological and substantive problems associated with them. Policy guidelines for implementing future crime prevention programs are discussed. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of two common themes implicit in the community crime prevention literature which could provide a solution to crime prevention program implementation difficulties.