Crime prevention is a proactive approach that minimizes the risks and occurrences of criminal activities. It helps protect individuals and society from the harmful effects of violations to create safety and stability. Criminal activities broadly fall under misdemeanors, felonies, violent crimes, and property crimes.
Misdemeanors are minor non-indictable violations punishable by jail terms of 12 months or less. These include trespassing, shoplifting, resisting arrest, and disorderly public behavior. Felonies are more serious crimes that warrant more complex court procedures than misdemeanors. They are punishable by imprisonment exceeding 12 months, including kidnapping, rape, extortion, and burglary.
Violent crimes involve the use of force by perpetrators, while in property crimes, victims lose money or property without the use of force. Law enforcement agencies are implementing several crime prevention strategies to avoid infractions before they occur.
Law enforcement utilizes the philosophy of punishment to discourage violations. This approach views state punishment as a viable option for addressing the cause of crime. Harsh repercussions are morally-acceptable tactics for protecting citizens, and fear of these sanctions shapes the perpetrators’ behaviors. Law enforcement utilizes deterrence, debilitation, and rehabilitation to control violations.
Law enforcement faces challenges in police recruitment and retention, accountability, and limited access to accurate data. Polarizing cases of the misuse of power by enforcers are creating public distrust and jeopardizing the integrity of this effective approach to crime prevention. The number of applicants in agencies is decreasing, and policy changes affect productivity and tenure periods in the police service.
Situational crime prevention focuses on making it challenging for potential offenders to break the law and reducing the rewards of infringement. This pre-emptive approach analyzes the common types of crime and where they are popular to design preventive strategies.
Target hardening is an example of situational crime prevention that involves introducing barriers to discourage crime. This approach is cost-effective since barriers, such as locks and closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV), are cheaper than replacing stolen or damaged property. However, critics argue that situational crime prevention does not address the causes of crime. Perpetrators can focus on different properties or individuals with ineffective barriers. Additionally, the situational model only addresses street crimes, ignoring other rampant forms, including white-collar and state violations.
Besides, social crime prevention strategies focus on perpetrators and the social setting where they break the law. These individuals make up groups based on their likelihood of committing specific infringements. Experts address these groups’ predisposing factors to crime, such as poverty, racial prejudices, and unemployment, to develop counter-strategies.
The Perry pre-school project in the United States is a social crime prevention strategy empowering troubled families to mitigate criminality. Moreover, guidance and counseling programs for school dropouts help mitigate teenage delinquency and support them to resume education.
Environmental crime prevention strategies address the physical signs of law-breaking to help society see and appreciate social order. Graffiti and broken public resources create the impression that crime is rampant, which can drive away respectable people. Implementing a zero-tolerance policing tactic can discourage infringement by punishing these misdemeanors as serious violations.
Environmental crime prevention is cost-effective and has a high success rate in densely populated cities. However, some punishments can be extremely harsh and lead to loss of social value, including jobs and titles. Additionally, these strategies can encourage prejudice in a multi-cultural society, leading to discrimination and a social divide.
