The forum would have five main functions: to receive detailed information about local criminal activity; to share information about law enforcement initiatives undertaken by the various represented organizations; to learn about best practice from other places; to agree on joint strategies to deal with crime management and offenders; and to act as an opportunity for news media to engage with crime control as an issue. These recommendations follow a description of the probation service in the United Kingdom; in the 56 probation areas in England and Wales, involving 140,000 individuals or three times the national prison population. Nearly 75 percent are subject to probation orders and community service orders. Probation officers supervise their clients and offer assistance and support to allow them to live as law-abiding community members and deal with their difficult personal and social circumstances. Many probation services have played key roles in the creation of local victims' support projects and the development of facilities to address social and economic factors of crime. The establishment of the Crime Control Forum would be one method of devising a more systematic approach to crime management. A general crime control strategy would provide better information to the public, continue developing victims' support projects, improve physical security, improve social crime prevention measures, improve educational and social environments, and develop a multidisciplinary approach to dealing with adult offenders. It would also provide better bail facilities and bail information projects, maximize the use of community-based sentences, use prison only where necessary for public protection, and involve the public and private sectors in joint crime control action.