Prevention: Community Programs

Community crime prevention programs were founded upon a simple idea: that private citizens can and should play a critical role in preventing crime in their communities. The concepts community and crime prevention have fluid interpretations. Consequently, the range of programs popularly or officially labeled community crime prevention has included a virtually limitless array of activities, including media anti-drug campaigns, silent observer programs, and neighborhood dispute resolution programs.

While no consensual definition of the community crime prevention program concept has emerged, criminal justice scholars tend to restrict its application to activities that include residents of a particular locality who participate in efforts to stop crimes before they occur in that locality. Generally excluded from this categorization are (1) programs that serve only known offender populations; (2) programs that are designed and implemented only by professionals (e.g., social workers and probation officers); and (3) programs that may involve community residents but are principally based in formal social institutions like juvenile courts or schools.