Programs
Changing Our Communities Through Crime Prevention
Volume 30, Number 8 - September 2009
As of the December issue, NCPC will be suspending the publication of Catalyst. For up-to-date information on crime prevention, please log on to www.ncpc.org.
Editor: Martin W.G. King
In This Issue
Editorial
A Remarkable Journey
By Alfonso E. Lenhardt, President and CEO
The road has take us to a better place, a place where we could put our ingenuity to work, a place where we could ask what would be best for the public, for potential crime prevention victims, and for crime prevention practitioners.
Our Top Stories
October is Crime Prevention Month!
By Kelsey Tokar, NCPC Staff
Crime Prevention Month focuses on all the ways people keep their communities safe. It’s an ideal time to have fun, celebrate safety, and launch new crime prevention programs.
The New Adolescent High: Abusing Household Supplies
By Angela Sivak, NCPC Staff
Some adolescents are abusing household products to get high, putting their health at great risk. Most of their parents don’t suspect a thing.
Preparing America for the Next Disaster
By Angela Sivak, NCPC Staff
Shockingly, investigators recently smuggled bomb parts into ten high-security federal buildings. Then they assembled them, undetected. It was a reminder that we still need to be alert.
News Notes
Celebrate Safe Communities Initiative Aims For A Record!
By Jeff Broderson, NCPC Staff
Celebrate Safe Communities events will kick off Crime Prevention Month at the beginning of October. Have you registered your event? There’s still time.
McGruff Corner
McGruff Has a DC Night Out
By Jeff Broderson, NCPC Staff
McGruff spread the word about safety to hundreds of kids and their parents in a Latino neighborhood in Washington one evening in August. A good time was had by all.
Training Update
Weed and Seed Sites Use CPTED To Improve Their Communities
By Sarita Coletrane, NCPC Staff
NCPC’s Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design training has paid off in communities across the country.
Resources Worth Noting
Every month, we assemble announcements of exciting publications, events, and more.
Prevention Works Blog Feed
August 4, 2009: The Bucket List
— “Live life to the fullest,” “Live like there’s no tomorrow,” “Live each day as if it were your last,’’ — our society is filled with a number of catch phrases designed to inspire us all to take nothing for granted and seize the day! Unfortunately, we don’t all take heed of this advice until our days are numbered.
August 11, 2009: Can you Twitter Crime Away? — With the explosion of Twitter and other social media sites, I have often wondered why people have felt the need to share every aspect of their personal lives online. I figured maybe people just want to brag about being out to dinner or a Hawaiian vacation. Many of us in the crime prevention field believe that we, as a society, are sharing too much personal information as the social media revolution continues to unfold.
August 18, 2009: How Will You Respond to the Worsening Homeless Problem? — Recent news stories have brought to light another issue for law enforcement—attacks on the homeless. Estimates are that the homeless population has swelled to more than one million nationally, with almost 50 percent lacking shelter. Moreover, the National Coalition for the Homeless reports a rise in violence against the homeless, with at least 880 unprovoked attacks and 244 fatalities. Most of the attacks were brutal—a man in Cleveland savagely beaten in a group attack, a man in Los Angeles set on fire, a woman pushed down a steep staircase and another raped. The Coalition reports that most of these attacks were committed by males aged 25 or younger and that in the last 10 years 58 percent of attackers were teenagers.
August 25, 2009: United We Serve: Serving for Safety — Hurricane season is upon us, and while we are much better at predicting, tracking, and preparing for storms than we were a few decades ago, the aftermath of these natural disasters is unchanged—destruction, casualties, and profound disruption to our daily living. Time and again, however, research shows that people who believe themselves to be “prepared” for disasters often aren’t as prepared as they think. The same goes for our safety and security.
Reproduction of articles for nonprofit use is granted by the National Crime Prevention Council.
This publication was made possible through Cooperative Funding Agreement No. 2008-DD-BX-0687 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Opinions are those of NCPC or cited sources and do not necessarily reflect U.S. Department of Justice policy or positions. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
The National Crime Prevention Council is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. Contributions are welcomed and are tax deductible.
Copyright © 2009 National Crime Prevention Council. All rights reserved. McGruff the Crime Dog® and "Take A Bite Out Of Crime®" are registered marks of the National Crime Prevention Council.
