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Role of Police in Crime Prevention (From Integrating Crime Prevention Strategies: Propensity and Opportunity, P 89-122, 1995, Per-Olof H Wikstrom, Ronald V Clarke, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-157412)

NCJ Number
157417
Author(s)
A J Reiss Jr
Date Published
1995
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This article profiles the crime prevention strategies and tactics of policing.
Abstract
Policing crime prevention strategies and tactics include the enhancement of a visible police presence, the enhancement of covert undercover activities, surveillance, inspection, legitimate use of authority and force, dispute resolution, access control, intelligence collection and analysis, education and dissemination of information, research and development, and police participation in community crime prevention programs. Each of these categories of police crime-prevention activities are described. A section on police as co-producers of crime prevention notes that two changes have occurred that have expanded the crime-prevention objectives of policing. Both changes have focused on neighborhoods and communities as the locus of crime prevention. One was a shift among crime prevention agencies from attention to individual crime prevention measures to neighborhood and community crime-prevention measures. The other is a shift of the police to a problemsolving approach to crimes in collaboration with community residents. These two shifts not only focused on interagency crime prevention, but redefined the role of police agencies in crime prevention. Major sections of the essay then address the police in multi-agency crime prevention and problemsolving and community policing. 80 references