A Current Crime Prevention Program - Essay Example

? CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAM NUMBER INTRODUCTION In order for a crime to take place, there has to exist an opportunity for the criminals to commit a crime, and to prevent and over power these criminals from committing a crime, the government, the law enforcing authorities and the people of a society should put in their efforts to eliminate or at least reduce this menace from their respective areas. A simple question that can be asked by a layman is why does crime exist? A set of individuals or a certain group of people can answer it very briefly, saying that it exists because criminals commit crimes. But on the other hand another group of individuals can relate it to the law and order of the government. They might have an opinion that because there is a law of everything and as a responsible citizen of the country, a person is bound to abide with that law, so people who de-track from the right path, intentionally or un intentionally commit crimes and become criminals in order to challenge the rules and regulations of their country. The word crime has become a daily part of our lives with every person experiencing it in one way or the other. Every country, every state, every town and every street has become a target for the crime seekers. In order to prevent, overcome or minimize this calamity from our society, the people have to be alert and the local authorities have to be on their toes. (James Q Wilson 1983). Lately Crime prevention programs have been set up by many authorities with collaboration with the local residents. One thing is very clear, that the government or the law enforcing agencies cannot work alone to minimize the effects of crime or criminals in a certain area. They need the help, cooperation and association of the locals. As they are also part of the community so their input and advice matters a lot to the authorities. DISCUSSION Crime has had hold of every part of this world and has spread like an infection across the globe .With street crimes on high, productive preventive measures have to be taken to safeguard the lives of the people. For this purpose many Crime Prevention Units work hard to reduce crime and improve the surrounding areas of the society to be friendly and safe for living. (National Advisory Committee). Their major aim is to improve the quality of living with the help of the local residents of that area by preventing street crimes like theft, robbery, bullying, child abuse, burglary, kidnapping, shop lifting and many more. In order to maximize the input and minimize the occurrence of a particular crime the Crime Prevention Units must seek help from the residents, shop owners, famous personalities and make them their co-partners in the prevention of this unethical activity. By doing this, with their collaborators in street it will be much easier to govern the area as they can inform the required department about any crime almost immediately or at the time it is taking place. In this way it’s easy and helpful to safeguard even if the area has a vast expansion. The Crime Prevention specialists, working as their members would deliver and support ever-evolving prevention and safety programs, and maintain close partnerships with organizations and community members. Specialists would work out their strategies that will range from personal safety of a human being to self defense techniques. They will try their best to stay aware with the latest residential security practices, and hence process the trends in case of any crime taking place. In this way it will also help them to stay alert of any future un-happenings. ANALYSIS Without the introduction of the Crime Prevention Systems to reduce the street crimes, it would be extremely difficult for the law enforcing authorities to bring the rate of crime under control, plus without the local residents taking part as volunteers in this program the authority may come to a halt in resolving these criminal acts as Businesses and business men would get affected, shopping malls, banks, petrol stations, and parks would get flooded with peace breakers. Bullying will be on a high and street theft would be a daily episode of such a traumatic drama in that area. So in order to minimize such happenings from the area, the running and executing of the crime prevention systems is very important as it will only keep the area safe and secure to live in. CRITICAL THINKING The crime prevention program aims to reduce criminals and crime with the following inputs: Neighborhood watch When people living in neighborhood work collectively and as a team then the entire neighborhood can be benefited. Crime Prevention Specialists encourage and support the children, the women and the men to watch out for any un-familiar activity in their town. This activity develops trust among them and when individuals become a team, than that certainly reduces the amount of crime in that area. Car tracking system This phenomenon can be applied in case there has been stealing of cars and motor bikes in the town. The local residents can get the tracking system installed in their cars and other vehicles to prevent the stealing of their valuable belongings. Personnel security for business oriented areas Businessmen with their wealth at their disposal can certainly look for personal security guards for their building and to run their internal security system. As the government cannot safeguard the property of each and every person, so the people with money in their hands can surely look for this option. Report and respond to a crime The people who aren’t well educated or do not no about the seriousness of the word 'crime' or 'criminals' tend to overlook any criminal activity they have seen, with the approach that finding the criminals and stopping them from committing a crime is the duty of the local police department and to adjudicate them as guilty, is the work of the courts. Such ill-informed people have to be guided that as a citizen of the country and as a responsible person of the society, he should inform the local authorities about such activities so that they could take a strong step in making the wrong things go right. (Washington, United States Department of Justice 1999). Camera installation in public areas Street theft and robbery of mobile phones and cash or some other valuables are a daily routine for the gangs. (Marc Mauer). It’s very easy to catch an innocent party and steal their belongings. To prevent such crime, closed circuit TV cameras can be beneficial for the authorities in order to catch thugs who rob innocent people right in the middle of the street. This could certainly help in decreasing the crime rate and making the area safer for the local community to live. Seminars and Lectures The execution of this aspect could be a great boost for the local authorities. Seminar could be arranged at schools, banks, public places and church’s where the audience could be shown reenactment videos of such cases from where people have galloped their way out of getting robbed or getting kidnapped by the crooked crime seekers. The authorities can also have the assistance of traffic wardens who could distribute pamphlets to aware the o going traffic and guide them the paths to safety. Such people can also be invited as guests who actually took a stand while watching and then reacting to such scenarios for the sake of helping others and for the sake for others to learn from. Their inspiring and motivational speeches could do a great benefit for such purpose, especially for kids and children as audiences. COMMENTARY Prevention of street crime has become a compulsory issue to address for the local as well as federal authorities. But the question rises, what caused a street crime like robbery to rise so high that a man fears to take a large sum of money with him with the fear of getting emptied all along the middle of the road? For the authorities one answer lies in the financial condition of that person who has converted himself or has been forced to become a criminal. No man comes to this world with a criminal mind; it’s the surrounding and the prevailing conditions that over power his thinking and brain washing washes away all the path of the good deeds he has to commit. On the other hand unemployment also plays a huge role in promoting such criminal acts by the citizens. Such broader areas have to be covered by the authorities to prevent crime and criminals in the community. (United States 1973). For this purpose, like mentioned above, seminars and lectures should be arranged by the authorities to entertain the residents with this valuable information. FUTURE PREDICTIONS The preventive measures have certainly been taken with the future aspect in mind. With burglar alarm systems, car tracking systems, CC TV cameras in operation, the future of this form of crime certainly looks vulnerable. (Ramsey Clark 1970). Who would have thought a couple of decades before those instruments would be used to safeguard and protect the lives of the human beings? But now, the people will certainly feel more secure with the usage of such modern day technology. On the other hand volunteers working in the crime prevention system would have an important part to play in the reduction if not the extinction of criminal activities in their areas. Trust among them and the people of society would be alarming for the mischief makers who just go an extra mile to disrupt the flow of living in a particular society. Living a safe and healthy life is everyone’s right and anyone disrupting that flow, should be answerable to the people and the law enforcing authorities. CONCLUSION To nullify such unfavorable acts from the society the government has to take care of every person of its country, whether he is the son of the President or the son of a carpenter, whether the person is a beaurocrat or a shop keeper, the responsibility of every person lies in the hands of the state and federal government. (United States 2001). One rule should be followed for every person and one rule should be used in finalizing whether the person is guilty or not. To adjudicate criminals, special courts could be one option where trails for such crimes could be encountered. Another good and effective option could be the rehabilitation centers where such criminals could be treated who have joined this unlawful practice due to some traumatic events. There, they could be helped out of any mental fatigue so that they could live a healthy life for the years to come. As said by a famous American actor Will Rogers, “Make crime pay. Become a lawyer.” With this quote he meant that a person should abide by the laws of his country and when he sees something inappropriate happening, he should stand against those happenings and protect the rules and regulations of his country. Ending this menace completely might not be too easy but reducing its percentage to an acceptable number would surely relieve the society and the people of the country. REFRENCES James Q Wilson 1983, San Francisco, Calif.: ICS Press; New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Distributed by Transaction Books, ©1983 Ramsey Clark 1970, New York, Simon and Schuster [1970] United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Youth Violence 2001. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.: [Congressional Sales Office, Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., distributor], 2001 Washington, D.C. (1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, 20530): U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 1999. National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. Task Force on Organized Crime. Washington: National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1976 United States. National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. Washington: National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1973 Marc Mauer; Sentencing Project (U.S.) New York: New Press: Distributed by W.W. Norton, ©1999 Read More