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Outsmarting Crime: A Personal Guide to Safer Living

NCJ Number
122423
Date Published
1989
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This booklet explains specific measures that citizens can take to reduce the opportunity for property and personal crimes both at home and outside the home.
Abstract
The guidelines emphasize the prevention of property crimes and note that typical criminals are amateurs who are looking for easy opportunities to obtain something of value in an easy way. Thus, citizens should increase the time, visibility, or noise factors involved in crime to discourage these criminals from choosing their homes as targets. Thus, effective crime prevention requires marking of property, taking measures to improve residential security through adequate locks and other measures, and participating in a neighborhood watch program. They should also be aware of measures to assure children's security, to increase safety while in an automobile or bus, to avoid becoming the victim of a confidence game or consumer fraud, and to avoid becoming the victim of an assault or purse snatching. Appropriate responses during an attack or other crime are also discussed. List of national and Maryland sources of further information.