Crime Reduction & Community Safety Sample

Introduction: Crime Reduction & Community Safety

The crime reduction is apprehensive with the diminishing the wide number of consequences of crime and criminal events. It is crucial for reducing the crime because it helps in enhancing public safety; reduce recidivism, enhanced quality of life, stronger communities and economic benefits. In addition to this, safety of community is an approach of partnership in order to diminish crime and complaint in local communities. It is crucial for the government to take corrective actions to improve the community safety because it helps in enhance public health, crime reduction, stronger community bonds, increase sense of security and positively impacts on the local economy of the country. Apart from this, the current report will highlights the way of recoding the crimes and the philosophy of community policing. In addition, the report will also confer the various strategies and crime reduction and their effectiveness.

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Section 1: Recording Crime

Two approaches of recording crimes

The police service uses various methods to record the crimes. Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW) and police record corruptions are two major approaches that are adapted by all the police services to record the crimes. CSEW is a significant monitor of crime in England and Wales. This method of recoding the crime is used by the government in order to assess and build policies relevant to the crime reduction and provides the essential information regarding age crime’s changing level over the last 30 years (Buil-Gil, Medina and Shlomo, 2021). CSEW collects the data on the criminals and survey the entire population about their personal experience with the crime. It involves crimes in against to adults, households and also includes the data on the crime that is experienced by the child and crime against business and community. This method of recoding the crime provides the complete information about the nature of crime consisting timing, characteristics, location and relationships between the victim & offender.

Another significant approach of recording the crime is police recorded time (PRC) The Home Office offers PRC in tables that includes figures of verified crime damaged down by the geography, offence, type and time period (Hester, Walker and Myhill, 2023.). The information of PRC can be evaluated by the people and these figures can be influenced by the changes in recording practice and policy. Apart from this, CSEW and PRC are different from each other. CSEW is highly validated in comparison to PRC as it depends upon the original information from those that have been suffered from crime. 

Strengths and weaknesses of CSEW and PRC

The biggest strength of CSEW is it recorded the obscure character of the crime that is unreported to the police. In addition to this, CSEW also provides more complete picture of misconduct happen in England and Wales and it can be utilized to form policy reforms and create initiatives (Pullerits and Phoenix, 2023). On the other hand, CSEW fails to record the crimes which are victimless such as drug use and prostitution. This method of recording the crime is relied on the subjective interpretation of the people as to whether crime has been devoted. It uses large samples that are illustrative of population. It also gathers data on individual’s perception of crime which is useful for framing the policies (Tutor2u, 2024). CSEW also helps in comparing the crimes from one year to next which makes it validated and reliable. Aside from this, PRC gauge acts that are considered to be illegal and are not dependent upon the clarification of the victims whether it falls under the category of crime or not. PRC are assembled by the official government agencies every year and it can be contrast with the preliminary years. However, PRC may be deployed to represent dropping levels of crime in order to meet the targets of government (Buil-Gil, Moretti and Langton, 2021). In this, not all the crimes are recounted to the police as offence. Moreover, PRC assists to decide the budgets of policing by forecasting the crime level that the police will have to deal with coming year.

Section 2: The Philosophy Of Community Policing

Influence of crime on victims and societies

The crime has long and short term effect on the both victims and communities. The effect of crime on the victims may be financial, physical, emotional, psychological, economic etc. The physical harm encompasses with various results related to the physical damage such as injury, death and violence. The key indicators of physical harm of victims include violence with injury offences, homicide etc. In the context of economic, the people who are from lower economic groups then they are more suffering from the financial influence of the crime (Langton, ixon and Farrell, 2021). The lower economic group people may lack the resources in order to recover from the financial loss and admittance to legal representation. In terms of social, the people with higher social status may receive more resources and support to cope with the result of a crime. Individuals with lower social status face various challenges due to the lack of resources and stigma.

 The crime also has an immersive impact on the victims psychologically and emotionally such as distress, symptoms of anxiety and depression. The main measure of emotional as well as psychological harm involves emotional effects and their severity (Skoy, 2021). On the other hand, the crime also has short and long term impact on the overall community. Generally, crime has negative impact on the overall community and its members. In society, crime is reducing a safety and it is go hand in hand. If the crime increases then the safety of the people reduces and vice versa. If the crime increases then the people feel that they are not safe. Whole communities can be influenced by the crime irrespective people are direct victims of the crime are not. Anti-social behaviour has massive influence on perception of safety and have adverse persuades on the local environment. The key indicators of crime against society include drug offence, public order offence and possession of weapons. 

Impact of news media on communities’ perceptions of crime 

 News media has significant impact on the community’s perception of crime and fear. Media coverage put emphasis on the high profiles and sensational crimes which can create the imprint that such occurrence are more predominant than they actually are. This can lead to an exaggerated perception of the crime rates in people’s mind. Along with this, extensive media coverage of crimes specifically violence one can instil the fear in individuals and feel them more susceptible to become victims (Campbell, 2020) This fear can lead to changes in the behaviour of the people such as eliminating the certain activities and places apparent as risky. Media coverage also has potential to strengthen biases and categorizes about certain group of people specifically when it comes to reporting on the crimes committed by the people from marginalized societies. This can contribute to the discrimination and stigmatization of these groups which effects the perception of the community and fear. The media coverage of crimes can shape the opinion of the individuals and encourages the policymakers. The pressure of public in a community results from discriminating fear and insight of the crime that leads to the adaption of policies and laws strictly (Stickle and Felson, 2020).

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 Philosophy of community policing and associated legislation

Community policing is a philosophy that helps in promoting the organizational strategies that supports the effective use of problem-solving and partnership techniques in order to redress the instant situations that provides increase to the safety of public challenges such as fear of crime, social disorder etc. The policing community includes various principle such as organizational transformation, problem-solving, partnership and proactive policing. In context of partnership, the community policy influence the police to form a partnership with the members of community, non-profit companies, local organizations and other government agencies in order to improve trusts and solve the problems (Kearns, 2020). 

The community policing also helps in fostering the utilization of problem-solving techniques to determine and solve the underlying challenges that contribute to the disorder and crime. Another policing of community is proactive and it put emphasis on the preventing the crime before it occurs instead of responding after the fact. Community policing assists in fostering the accountability in the policy officers by developing the strong foundation of interaction, transparency and collaboration with the societies they serve. Effective community policing helps in building the mutual trust and respect among the police and community they serve. It also facilitates proactive problem solving, amplifying community voice, effective allocation of resources, reducing fear of crime and improves the satisfaction of the officers. 

 Moreover, community policing also needs a transformation of the police organization in order to support the problem-solving and partnership activities. In today’s world, community policing is significant because it helps in preventing crime, building trust, empowering the community and enhance the quality of life as well as making effective use of resources (O’Reilly, 2023). Apart from this, The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 is one of the crucial legislation of the community policing. This legislation introduces a national structure for the strategic police decision-making, neighbourhood policing, national policing and policing accountability. In this legislation, the local PCCs and councils forces are partners on a variety of community safety challenges. 

Impact of multi-agency policing since the 1997 New Labour government 

Multi- policing is one of the significant approaches where the police influence to foster multi-agency problem agencies that relied on the data gathered from several databases across municipal departments. Since 1997 introduce of new labour government the multi-agency policing become the cornerstone in the community safety initiatives and crime prevention activities. In addition to this, agency policing maintains the practical and cost effective solutions to various social and economic problems including crime (Kochvar et al. 2023). The ideas have come to control the management and operational work of the police specifically where the collaboration and cooperation are advantageous for the reduction and prevention of crime. 

Section 3: Effectiveness Of Crime Reduction Strategies

Investigating crime reduction strategy and evaluating their effectiveness

To reduce the crime, the police implement the various local and national crime reduction strategies. National crime prevention (NCP) is one of the significant strategies that are adapted by the police in order to reduce the crime level. This strategy was integrated in March 1995 by the Cabinet. This strategy is the outcome of a widespread process of research and analysis as well as strained on the global experience. To prevent the crime it is crucial to convert and reorganize the government as well as enable the participation of the real community. Both business against NGO and crime is concerned with the prevention of the crime has major contribution to the NCP (Anser et al. 2020). 

The key objective of NCP is to develop the comprehensive policy framework that will facilitate government to redress the crime in focused and coordinated method which draws on the resources of all the government agencies and civil society. Another objective of the NCP is to maximize the participation of the civil society in order to sustaining and mobilizing the initiatives of the crime prevention. This strategy of crime reduction is based on the fundamentally new approach by the government. It needs the development of the responsibility for the prevention of crime and shift in prominence from reactive ‘Crime Control” which organizes resources towards reacting after happening of crimes towards proactive “Crime Prevention” (Rudolph and Starke, 2020). Another key objective of NCP is creation of integrated and dedicated prevention capacity which helps in conducting the on-going assessment and research of public and departmental campaigns as well as enabling the effective programme of crime reduction at local and regional level. 

Apart from this, addressing the poverty and economic inequality is one of the local crime reduction strategies that are implementing by the police in order to minimize the crime. Poverty and crime ate the prevalent challenges in the countries in all over the world. Poverty has delayed the capability of growing the countries in order to reach their potential. Crime has played same role in the growing of these nations. Poverty is recognized as key element in the continuation of the criminal behaviour as people who lack admittance to basic opportunities and resources. Furthermore, poverty can aggravate accessible economic and social issues such as substance use and unemployment which leads to higher crime rates. Poverty can create a sense of despair and hopelessness which can further contribute to the behaviour of the criminal.

 This crime reduction strategy is considered as significant aspect of preventing the crime in the country. Crime and poverty often occur instantaneously. Crime is not increase by poverty alone but instead of inequality. Countries with high level of the poverty are not necessary have the high level of crime. Increase the crime is places with the high level of income inequality. If the government take corrective actions to address the economic inequality and poverty then the level of crime will decreases. To address the poverty to reduce the crime rates the government is conduct the poverty reduction program that offers people with essential resources in order to eliminate the criminal behaviour (Näsi et al. 2021). If the individuals are given admittance to healthcare, education, employment opportunities then then they are less probable to influence in the criminal activities. Apart from this, there are many diverse approaches that can be taken to redress the challenge of poverty and crime rates. The major effective solution includes job training, access to education and resources that help the people to develop the skills and enhance the economic prospects.

CONCLUSION 

 It has been concluded that, Police record crimes and Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW) are considered as two significant approaches to record the crime. CSEW has various strengths and it offers complete pictures of occurring the crime and it can be used for create initiatives and frame the policy reforms. On the other hand, PRC may be organized to demonstrate falling crime level to fulfil the target of the government. In addition, the crime has significant impact on the victims and communities. The crime has physical, financial, psychological, emotional and economic effect on the victims. The news media also has an immersive impact on the perception of the community towards the crime and fear. The news media can shape the perception of views of the peoples and also influence the policymakers. Community policing plays a vital role in fostering the strategies in order to support the efficient utilization of the partnership and problem-solving techniques to resolve the immediate condition. The principles of community policing includes problem-solving, organizational transformation, proactive policing and partnership. Apart from this, to reduce and prevent the crime, the police are implementing various national and local strategies. National crime prevention plays a crucial role in reduce the crime. On the other hand, local strategy is to address the poverty and economic inequality to reduce crime.

References

Books and Journals 

• Anser, M.K., Yousaf, Z., Nassani, A.A., Alotaibi, S.M., Kabbani, A. and Zaman, K., 2020. Dynamic linkages between poverty, inequality, crime, and social expenditures in a panel of 16 countries: two-step GMM estimates. Journal of Economic Structures, 9(1), pp.1-25.
• Buil-Gil, D., Medina, J. and Shlomo, N., 2021. Measuring the dark figure of crime in geographic areas: Small area estimation from the crime survey for England and Wales. The British Journal of Criminology, 61(2), pp.364-388.
• Buil-Gil, D., Moretti, A. and Langton, S.H., 2021. The accuracy of crime statistics: Assessing the impact of police data bias on geographic crime analysis. Journal of Experimental Criminology, pp.1-27.
• Campbell, A.M., 2020. An increasing risk of family violence during the Covid-19 pandemic: Strengthening community collaborations to save lives. Forensic science international: reports, 2, p.100089.
• Hester, M., Walker, S.J. and Myhill, A., 2023. The Measurement of Domestic Abuse–Redeveloping the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Journal of Family Violence, pp.1-15.
• Kearns, E.M., 2020. Exploring officer views of community policing in counterterrorism. Police practice and research, 21(1), pp.18-32.
• Kochvar, A., Liu, Y., Munafo, M., Xu, Z. and Dai, H.D., 2023. Genetic and environmental influences on early-age susceptibility and initiation of nicotine-containing product use: A twin-pairs study. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation, 9.
• Langton, S., Dixon, A. and Farrell, G., 2021. Six months in: pandemic crime trends in England and Wales. Crime science, 10, pp.1-16.
• Näsi, M., Tanskanen, M., Kivivuori, J., Haara, P. and Reunanen, E., 2021. Crime news consumption and fear of violence: The role of traditional media, social media, and alternative information sources. Crime & Delinquency, 67(4), pp.574-600.
• O’Reilly, C., 2023. Doing the right thing? value conflicts and community policing. Policing and Society, 33(1), pp.1-17.
• Pulkkinen, S., 2024. " The Swedish road is not ours": Narrating the Finnish community of value in parliamentary debate on youth crime and street gangs.
• Pullerits, M. and Phoenix, J., 2023. How priority ordering of offence codes undercounts gendered violence: An analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales. The British Journal of Criminology, p.azad047.
• Rudolph, M. and Starke, P., 2020. How does the welfare state reduce crime? The effect of program characteristics and decommodification across 18 OECD-countries. Journal of Criminal Justice, 68, p.101684.
• Skoy, E., 2021. Black Lives Matter protests, fatal police interactions, and crime. Contemporary Economic Policy, 39(2), pp.280-291.
• Stickle, B. and Felson, M., 2020. Crime rates in a pandemic: The largest criminological experiment in history. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(4), pp.525-536.

Online

Tutor2u, 2024. CSEW Strengths and limitations. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.tutor2u.net/criminology/topics/strengths-and-limitations-of-csew#:~:text=CSEW%20fails%20to%20capture%20victimless,a%20crime%20has%20been%20committed.>