The Retreat of Folly: Some Modest Replications of Inner-City Success

Abstract

Community-based alternatives to the criminal justice system, like block watches and patrols, that seek to reduce opportunities for crime without addressing the causes of crime have, in part, become public relations gimmicks designed, at best, to assuage fear. Inner-city residents want more crime prevention along the lines of Argus, Centro, the Community Boards, and Umoja. Preliminary evaluation results from a national demonstration in inner-city neighborhoods show considerable success with bubble-up grass-roots initiatives that both address the causes of crime and reduce the opportunities for it. The demonstration suggests that inner-city community organizations can be more cost-effective than police in leading such initiatives. With technical assistance, the community groups, located in some of the nations' most devastated inner-city ghettoslums, were able to assemble the resources to continue on after their initial 30-month grants ran out. The total funding raised for such financial self-sufficiency exceeded the initial grants. The future lies in more ambitious replications of the principles underlying Argus, Centro, the Community Boards, and Umoja.