We Are Here To Help

By Alfonso E. Lenhardt

Americans got a jolt of bad news earlier this summer - the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its preliminary crime statistics for 2006.

The Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, January – December 2006 confirmed what many law enforcement officials across the country already knew. Nationwide, violent crime increased 1.3 percent. This was the second year this figure has increased after years of decline. Robbery rose 6 percent nationwide. And while murder was up “only” 0.3 percent overall, it increased 6.7 percent in cities with more than a million people.

Whether that murder is committed in a city of millions or a rape occurs in a small town, violent crime is violent crime and it’s time for all of us to look around and decide what we can do to halt these increases.

This isn’t new territory.
 
Back in the late 1970s, crime was rising at a frightening rate. People felt powerless, believing that only the police could fight crime. Parks, street corners, and schoolyards became havens for criminals. The scourge of drugs spurred random street crime across the nation. When 19 civic, corporate, and government leaders decided enough was enough, they formed the National Citizens’ Crime Prevention Campaign. Its message?  Ordinary citizens, working with law enforcement, could play a role in preventing crime.

In 1980, the Crime Prevention Coalition of America was formed, and two years later, the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) followed. For 25 years NCPC has dedicated itself to being the nation’s leader in helping people keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe from crime. NCPC’s icon, McGruff the Crime Dog®, is familiar to all Americans.

Over the years NCPC has worked hard to integrate prevention-focused strategies into communities across the nation. We believe prevention helped pave the way for declining crime rates, improved neighborhoods and business districts, and helped residents feel safer. Some of this work included comprehensive citywide crime prevention activities, methamphetamine summits, public education messages, designing safer spaces using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, involving youth in prevention activities, and demonstrating that individual and collective crime prevention actions could help reduce crime.

Few concerns captivate the attention of local policy makers in the United States more than the safety and quality of life of their communities.  Residents, business owners, and other leaders have shared their concerns with locally elected officials and in many cases have joined the search for sustainable, community-driven solutions.

At the end of the day, all crime is local and locally elected officials and administrators are essential leaders in local anti-crime initiatives.  It would be difficult to overstate the importance of their ability to motivate individuals’ participation and enforce accountability of partners to objectives established for comprehensive, community-wide strategies. Local leaders impart the spirit of cooperation and openness to change that sets a tone for public problem-solving.

Local success against the challenges of crime and related quality-of-life concerns requires concerted action by a wide variety of partners in local government, the private sector, and neighborhoods. Communities seeking success must bring together all of those who know the problem, those who care about the problem, and those who can help solve the problem.

But not only has crime prevention lowered crime rates, it also saves money while increasing safety. The cost of crime is not just monetary, but also physical and psychological to victims and their families. 

The cost of crime is pervasive. When crime occurs, every community member is hurt, not just victims. Taxpayers pay for law enforcement agencies to investigate crime and to find and arrest suspects.  Insurance companies and their policyholders cover losses for victims.  Public monies fund rehabilitation, counseling, probation, parole, and more. Prevention programs are a sound return on the investment and help reduce victimization.  Police chiefs and sheriffs know this and should continue to make the case for prevention as a cost-effective policy option in initiatives against crime.

It is time for a thoughtful, reasoned approach to reducing crime, and prevention must be its cornerstone.