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Community Responses to Crime

NCJ Number
108245
Journal
Journal of California Law Enforcement Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: (1986) Pages: 100-105
Author(s)
M L Forst; G Bazemore
Date Published
1986
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A survey of residents in Oakland, Calif., solicited information on their knowledge of and involvement in community crime prevention programs and their attitudes toward various crime prevention strategies.
Abstract
The survey was conducted between August and October 1982 and involved telephone interviews with 726 respondents comprising the citywide sample and 1,204 respondents from the 8 racial/ethnic neighborhoods. A minority of respondents were aware of crime prevention organizations in their communities. Residents in predominantly white communities had the greatest knowledge of crime-fighting organizations, and Asian communities had the least knowledge. Respondents in middle-income communities were more likely to be aware of crime-fighting organizations than were residents in the lower income communities. A minority of the respondents indicated they were currently involved in any collective crime prevention activities. A relatively high proportion of respondents favored increasing collective crime prevention activities. This contrasted sharply with low support for both government and individual crime prevention actions. The findings suggest that at least in predominantly black and white communities there is a strong constituency for neighborhood crime prevention strategies. 3 tables and 3 references.