Community Crime Prevention Guide
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Develop a Community Crime Prevention Action Plan
Develop a Communications Strategy
A communications strategy should be an integral part of a crime prevention action plan because it is an essential part of mobilizing local communities and helping make the right connections to build partnerships.
An effective communications strategy will also help to:
- Raise the partnership's profile in the community;
- Gain community support for the partnership's work;
- Reduce fear of crime; and
- Change attitudes towards the criminal justice system.
Resources
Communicating Crime Reduction
: Designed to help community-based partners to develop and implement their own communication strategies. This website includes practical tools such as a communications strategy template.
It contains the following checklist for developing a communications strategy:
- Has the partnership agreed on the communication strategy's aims and objectives?
- Are all partner agencies committed to delivering clear and unified messages?
- Have areas of responsibility been agreed upon?
- Are roles and responsibilities clear?
- Has a realistic action plan been drawn up, taking into account the available resources?
- Have you identified your key messages and audiences?
- Have the links between the communications strategy and other community/involvement mechanisms been made?
- Have you identified your key stakeholders?
- How will you make sure that your key stakeholders are kept fully briefed on the partnership's work?
- Do you have the mechanisms in place to facilitate two-way communication?
- Is your communications strategy flexible enough to react to changing circumstances?
- How will you monitor and evaluate your communications strategy?
- How will you measure the strategy's success?
- Who is your media and public relations spokesperson?
Information on the following topics is also available:
- Developing a communications strategy explains the importance of having an effective strategy, as well as offering guidance on the content of a communications strategy and how it should be implemented.
- "Spreading the word" looks at paid publicity and how it can be used to communicate crime reduction strategies. It also examines how and when to use it in order to gain maximum effect.
- Taking the message into the community focuses on arranging public events, making the most of face-to-face contact, as well as enabling practitioners to give practical advice to people they meet.
- Considering the fear of crime provides information on skills that are needed to avoid inadvertently raising the public fear of crime through communication.
- Connecting with youth – see the How to Engage Youth page.
- Connecting people with disabilities highlights the factors in ensuring communication is accessible to those with disabilities.
- Connecting with ethnic communities advises on numerous topics ranging from what media to use to language issues.
- Connecting with business helps show how businesses can be brought into community partnership and outlines some of the benefits to participation.
- Research and evaluation in communication – also see the section of this guide called How to Evaluate.
There is a significant body of research on the role the media plays in influencing public perceptions about crime. For information on how to work with the media and have an impact on the reporting of crime and crime prevention, see How to Involve the Media in this guide.
