Safe at Home : Local Crime Prevention Efforts Are Neighborhood’s Best Protection

While it seems that crime is on the rise every time you pick up the paper or turn on the television, in some neighborhoods the opposite is true--crime is actually on the decline. In cities and towns across the country, local crime prevention groups have reduced burglaries and car break-ins; helped catch muggers, rapists and kidnapers; established Block Parents and other child-safety projects; driven out drug dealers; eliminated graffiti, and, in general, made their homes and streets safer.

All it takes is a few people to get things started. By identifying and focusing on the neighborhood’s main concerns and working with police, neighbors can make a difference.

Why crime prevention is up to neighbors: Crime prevention is a job for you and your neighbors because you are in the best--and often the only--position to do it. The criminal justice system--the police, courts and prisons--primarily deals with crime after it takes place. Certainly, police arrest criminals and play a role in preventing crime. But it is neighbors who have the most power to stop a crime from happening in the first place.

--They are most likely to be the first ones to spot a burglar trying to break into your house or to call for help if they see someone attacking you or threatening your child near home.

--Neighbors are the ones who can befriend local children to keep them from joining gangs or talk with a battered woman to possibly prevent her abuse from turning into a violent tragedy.

--A group of neighbors can file a lawsuit in Small Claims Court to shut down crack houses and organize campaigns against drug dealers.

--Neighbors can detect the kinds of crimes that rarely get news coverage, such as graffiti, vandalism, petty thefts, auto break-ins and similar problems that can escalate unless they are nipped in the bud.

Several things explain why neighborhoods make the best crime fighters:

Most crime is local. Whether you live in the city or an exclusive gated community, the person who is most likely to burglarize you is a teen-ager who lives within a mile radius of your home. Indeed, nearly half of the criminals who victimize neighborhoods come from the immediate area. So obviously, local solutions have the best chance of succeeding.

Criminals target property--not people. Although you hear more about violent crimes than any others on the nightly news, homicides make up less than one-half of 1% of total crime and rapes are about 1%. Crimes against property--that is, burglaries, petty thefts, shoplifting and the like--make up 90% of criminal activity, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports for 1991. Neighbors can have a major impact on reducing property crimes. For one thing, in about half of all houses and cars that get burglarized, a door or window has been left unlocked. A simple reminder to neighbors to lock up can help reduce property crimes.

Most crime dangers do not come from strangers. Fear of a serial killer or a crazed gunman has given more than a few people nightmares. But the danger of physical attacks does not come from strangers as often as you might think. In fact, violent crime more often results from a breakdown in relationships between family members and friends than a breakdown of law and order.

Almost 60% of homicides are committed by a relative or acquaintance or someone known to the victim, according to the Justice Department’s 1988 “Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice.” And about 40% of all murders result from arguments that get out of control. Family members are often the culprits in kidnaping cases, as well, since parents going through custody fights abduct children more often that the faceless stranger.

And despite fears of attacks by strangers from different racial groups, criminals do not, as a rule, cross racial lines. If you are white, the person who attacks you is most likely going to be white; if you are black, an attacker will most likely be black.

So, while it’s always wise to take common sense precautions to avoid being victimized, you and your neighbors need not be paralyzed with fear about potential attacks from strangers. Instead, you can balance personal safety techniques with crime prevention projects, such as block parties, to strengthen relationships among neighbors.

Most criminals--and victims--are young. More than 80% of reported crimes are committed by males between 13 and 22. The peak age for property-crime arrests is 16, and for violent-crime arrests it is 18, according to FBI statistics. Teen-agers also are more likely than other age groups to be victims of violent crime.

The fact that so many young people commit crimes or become crime victims presents a special opportunity to neighbors. They can expand their efforts at crime prevention beyond putting strong locks on doors or buying cans of tear gas spray. Neighbors can work together to protect children and teach them how to protect themselves from crime. And they can make special efforts to involve neighborhood teens in crime prevention projects or reach out to young people to combat the influence of gangs and drugs.

Mann and Blakeman are the authors of “Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods: Stopping Crime Where You Live,” published by Nolo Press, Berkeley, Calif., from which this article is adapted. “Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods” is available in bookstores or by calling (800) 992-6656.