The enactment of criminal laws is sometimes said to serve preventive purposes, laws and regulations mandating or forbidding particular behaviors are often promulgated with crime prevention aims in mind, and legislatures enact laws that create governmental agencies and appropriate funds to be used in various ways to prevent crime. Most people see crime prevention as the primary reason why criminal laws are enacted, and considerable energy and money have been expended on crime prevention efforts to alter the physical and social organization of communities. Situational crime prevention has grown rapidly as a viable means of affecting crime patterns. The author concludes that the enactment of criminal laws is one of several things governments can do to prevent crime, that changes in criminal laws and sanctions by themselves are not likely to have a substantial effect on crime rates, and that governments should create and support specialized agencies with crime prevention as a major focus. 44 references