Community Crime Prevention Guide
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Why Have a Community Crime Prevention Action Plan?
Introduction
According to Statistics Canada, the nation's crime rate reached a 25-year low in 2006, with B.C. and every other province and territory recording a drop. Nevertheless, in 2004 one in four Canadians reported being victimized each year by a common crime such as mischief, car theft or assault. B.C. has one of the highest rates of property crime in Canada and its overall crime rate is higher than the national rate. As many as two-thirds of all victimization incidents never reach the criminal justice system.
The nature of crime and the factors that may increase or decrease its likelihood will vary among communities, as will programs and services to address such factors.
Identifying local issues, and evidence-based strategies to address those specific issues, help ensure crime prevention initiatives are relevant to local needs, encourage local support and, ultimately, increase the likelihood of success.
Local Community Engagement
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities Agenda for Safer Cities recommends that:
- the community be the focal point for effective crime prevention;
- strategies for preventing crime be sensitive to local needs; and
- community-based approaches to combating crime be developed and delivered through inter-governmental and community-level partnerships
Local communities are well positioned to lead the development of comprehensive community safety planning to identify and tackle the situations that put youth, families, neighbourhoods and businesses at risk of crime and victimization. Crime prevention is a long-term process that ideally becomes a normal part of local community activity and local governance.
Collaborative and Problem-Solving Partnerships are Essential
Collaborative and problem-solving relationships are essential. Local governments experience the problems of crime firsthand but don't have all the tools or resources needed to address them. Between the three levels of government – local, provincial and federal – responsibility is shared for delivering the services that tackle crime-related conditions. These services include housing, social services, recreation, police, zoning and public health.
While the criminal justice system has a critical role to play in community safety, multi-agency partnerships are essential. Community safety is dependent on the commitment and collaboration of sectors such as municipal planners, public health officials, educators, business, employment agencies, child welfare services and many others who plan and deliver care and support to children and adults in need. The reality is that no organization or community has the breadth of mandate or the depth of resources to go at it alone. Success depends on co-operation and collaboration.
Evidence-Based Approaches
Long-standing debates continue about the most effective ways for governments and communities to tackle problems of crime and community safety. Preventing and reducing crime was once seen primarily as the responsibility of police, courts and prisons. Research shows effective prevention strategies must also focus on identifying and addressing the root causes of crime, using multi-agency community partnerships.
There is sound evidence that intervening early in the lives of high-risk families and children, improving conditions in disadvantaged areas and focusing on the conditions that breed crime are highly effective in reducing crime.
For example, Communities That Care (CTC) is a research-based conceptual framework used to guide communities in selecting the most effective policies, actions and programs to promote youth development. It does this by targeting the unique risk and protection needs of each community such as risk factors for delinquency, school failure, substance abuse, school dropout and teen pregnancy.
Evaluations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia and Canada have provided positive and growing evidence of the effectiveness of the CTC prevention approach. The first Canadian project
was initiated in Squamish in 1998). CTC Squamish has succeeded in sustaining itself and is a source of CTC training for other B.C. communities.
There is also sound evidence that crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is effective in reducing and preventing crime and the fear of crime. Environmental design is particularly effective at the concept stage of development in a community, but it enhances social development strategies at any stage.
The RCMP E-Division offers two-day workshops for local communities on crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), as well as crime prevention through social development (CPSD). For information, e-mail: cpcp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
