New Year's Message

Reaping Only the Best Rewards

By Alfonso E. Lenhardt, NCPC President and CEO

With the new year upon us, this is a good time for all of us to cheer what we accomplished in 2007, learn from our experiences, and draw up a list of challenges that we must accomplish in 2008. Across the country, people are depending on us to help them stem the tide of crime and stay safe in their homes, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.

Here at the National Crime Prevention Council, we have held one of our most successful national conferences ever, launched an individual membership association, secured funding for new initiatives, and are looking at what we do well, what we must do differently, and what new programs we’d like to put in place. And we are serious about living up to our new mission, “To be the nation’s leader in helping people keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe from crime.”

Two years ago we pioneered our McGruff Club program for our youngest citizens; it has since expanded to 16 Las Cruces, NM, elementary schools and 20 other locations across the country. McGruff Club teaches children to stay safe in their neighborhoods and to resolve conflicts without violence. In its mission to provide for children’s safety, McGruff Club has much in common with two other long-established programs, McGruff House and McGruff Truck. Now, in this new year, we are taking this commitment to children to a higher level. These three programs will be combined into McGruff Neighborhoods in communities that are willing to implement all three programs for keeping children safe. McGruff Neighborhoods will embrace all three programs, thereby giving children multiple options, while enhancing their recognition of McGruff.

We will launch other new programs or variations of existing programs as the year progresses. The new National Crime Prevention Association is off to an excellent start and held its first membership meeting at our national conference. Its goal is to provide the skills, knowledge, and networking opportunities necessary to strengthen the role of crime prevention practitioners. You will hear in the future about our new Be Safe and Sound in School program, an enhanced variation of our old Be Safe and Sound initiative that encompasses elements of many other NCPC programs. Our Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design training will expand to nine Weed and Seed sites across the country. And we will launch a new Eight Safer Cities initiative that will focus on improving collaboration among local authorities to improve crime prevention and public safety.

While we are committed to our mission, new initiatives, and working with each of you to achieve the goals of the National Citizens’ Crime Prevention Campaign, we know that you have your own challenges to accomplish and initiatives to launch in the new year. With violent crime rising as prevention budgets shrink, it will be incumbent upon all of us to find new ways to keep our citizens safe. We will have to be creative as never before  with our limited resources. But I have no doubt we will all succeed; crime prevention practitioners are among the most devoted, committed, and passionate members of the law enforcement community and believe that crime prevention is not just a job, but a calling. May you be blessed in all your endeavors and may your efforts reap only the best rewards as 2008 unfolds.

Happy New Year!

Alfonso Lenhardt

President and CEO