Crime in Lewisham Borough - Essay Example

? Crime in Lewisham Borough Task: Crime in Lewisham Borough Crime is any serious offence not in favor of the rule of law and acceptable moral conducts in the society. Several sociological factors influence the increase in crime rate in Lewisham Borough. The changing lifestyles among the residents of Lewisham Borough are among the factors that escalate crime. Transformations in lifestyles contribute to changes in the behavior of the population. The growing stress from economic challenges faced by low-income earners is a major cause of anti-social conducts and behaviors. The low-income groups in the society return to robbery by violence and burglary to supplement their unsatisfactory meager income. Economic causes of crime emanates from the growing number of unemployed youths in the Lewisham Borough. Most youths engage in crime because of high employment rates. Poverty is a major factor that exacerbates instances of crime in urban areas (Sharma 2004, p.194). This, however, is arguable since most anti-social behaviors that emanate from poverty are dependent on the cultural values of the society (Un-Habitat 2007, p.2). Social inequality is a serious societal concern that promotes anti-social conducts in most communities. The effect of social inequality in promoting crime escalates from the dominance of unethical cultural values. Where there exists serious disparities between extreme social groups in the society, crime and violence are most likely to occur. Disparities between the rich and poor in societies are major escalators of crime. Lewisham Borough experiences high levels of deprivation though with very little margins of inequality score. However, inequality still measure up as a cause of crime (Local features 2007, p.9). Urbanization and its spread have its related social effects. With the growth of London, Lewisham is an equally urbanizing place. Crime and violence are possible antisocial conducts that may emanate from the influence of urbanization. Factors as advanced technology used in communication is a notable escalator of crime and violence in urban areas. The sophisticated communication aids communication that plays a vital role in coordinating criminal conducts. The increasing population of the youth is a notable escalator of crime. The high increase in the population of the youth, coupled with the increased sophistication in communication is a notable cause of crime in the society. The population of Lewisham is about two hundred and fifty. The young population among the Lewisham residents consists of twenty-five percent. Lewisham is among the most ethnically diverse cities in England and the diversity increases with the expansion of London. An estimated forty percent of the populations are Black Africans. The economy of is relatively below acceptable standards in comparison to other cities in Britain. The police, while coordinating with the council, are responsible for keeping the city safe and free from criminal activities. These are some of the attempts to boost the development of the social status of the city’s population. Crime presents one of the major challenges to the residents of Lewisham Borough. The alcohol and influence of drugs act are escalators of crime in Lewisham Borough. The criminal justice system also plays a plausible role in helping implement the various strategies with their main objectives as crime reduction and combating drug abuse in Lewisham and its neighborhood. Lewisham Borough addresses a number of security challenges. Shoplifting is among the greatest crime problems in the Lewisham that mostly occurs in the central business districts. Residential burglary is a notable cause of high crime rate in the Lewisham (Boguzas 2002, p. 9). Antisocial conducts among the youth is a serious security concern in the Borough. This escalates the rate of street crime that is a dominant form of crime on the Lewisham neighborhood and involves robbery of valuables from the public. Theft of vehicle is a form of crime that affects the residents of Lewisham Borough. The council should launch outreach initiatives to sensitize the community to help in combating crime. The dominance of violent crime in the Lewisham Borough is among the greatest challenges to security. Common assault is a great concern to the security institutions, council and residents of Lewisham Borough. Hate crime is a notable challenge to Lewisham Borough residents. The challenges that businesses face because of increased crime activities in Borough include low customer turn up and, consequently, low sales and incomes. Most customers do not shop adequately in insecure business locations. The loss of stock greatly affects business in insecure zones. The Lewisham council has a robust array of strategies to address crime. Setting up programs to ensure secure homes by the Lewisham council is an effective means to reduce crime rate. Incentives that would work in reducing street crime in the Lewisham Borough would include coordination with schools in sensitizing children and students on the need to embrace personal safety measures. Teaching the agenda of citizenship to children and students in the Lewisham Borough can help reduce the rate of street crimes among youths. The Lewisham Borough council uses youth offending service to transform the youth engaged in criminal activities. This involves monitoring the youth and provision of fundamental services to them. Provision of fundamental services to the youth helps reduce their engagement in criminal activities. This would include setting up packages to support the youth. The safe Lewisham partnership is vital as a crime reduction strategy. It involves the contribution of several and diverse partners including the primary care trust and probation services. It enables coordination with the five boroughs’ alliance to suppress violence and criminal activities. Its mandate is to identify and investigate the causes and dominance of crime in Lewisham Borough. It provides special support to institutions, groups and organizations that ensure the restoration of security in Lewisham Borough. In consultation with other stakeholders, it initiates programs that promote safety in Lewisham Borough. The partnership also develops special approach to implement techniques of crime reduction. Police operations that monitor the population to combat gang activities and possession of weapon offer an effective crime management strategy in the Lewisham Borough. In enhancing such strategies, addition of resources to the police and criminal investigation personnel would work to restore security in Lewisham Borough. Investigations into criminal activities would be fast and successful with adequate resources provided to the public. Setting up CCTV cameras is an effective strategy to ensure security in the streets. This would enhance timely identification of victims of crime in corridors and highly populated areas. CCTV images are helpful in identifying points that are prone to high rate of crime in the neighborhood. Cameras installed at such points are helpful in combating crime in spots of high criminal activities concentration. Restorative justice programs are helpful in enhancing security by preventing occurrence of violence at early ages. Projects as the five Borough’s alliance have been at the center stage in preventing the occurrence of violent crime. In controlling anti-social behavior among the residents of Lewisham Borough, drinking control zones are in place to reduce alcohol-related anti-social behavior. Expansion of programs as education to the youth to enhance their life skills is central in reducing the dominance of anti-social behaviors among the youth. Expansion of harm minimization programs is important in reducing activities. The council of Lewisham Borough has violence arrest employees to support the security institutions as the police. There are hate crime panels set to monitor and investigate incidences of hate speech in Lewisham Borough. Vulnerable groups as the low-income part of the population are most likely to engage in criminal activities. Support to such groups in any community is important in the reduction of crime in the society. There is support provision to vulnerable groups in the Lewisham Borough. Funds are set in place to support vulnerable groups and avoid the high possibility of involvement in criminal activities. Safeguarding the social welfare in Lewisham Borough is among the strategies to prevent crime and protect the vulnerable groups in the society. Security officials and the council promote the awareness of the public to local policing. The public should be aware of the extent of engagement of the police and other security providing institutions in cases of insecurity. Enhancing communication channels that would promote coordination among residents, businesses persons and security institutions in the city is core to ensuring a safe society. Collaboration among stakeholders is invaluable in promoting security in any neighborhood. This involves the engagement of community safety partnerships. It enhances the confidence of stakeholders in the community safety partnership. Through such partnerships, business and stakeholders pledge their commitments to support diverse approaches to maintaining a secure society. Several policy considerations target the concern of increased crime in Lewisham Borough. The equality act of 2006, section eight, condemns the increase of hate crime that is a notable challenge in Lewisham Borough. The act does disallow discriminations based on race. Several public institutions in Lewisham Borough suppress the increase of hate crime. The government plans to reduce crime are important through their intervention ways. The various action plans to reduce crime in Lewisham Borough are vital in bringing perpetrators to justice. Plans to ensure safety in Lewisham Borough are, equally, significant in reducing the prevalence of criminal conducts in the society. Action plans on ensuring community strategies are central in reducing instances of anti-social behaviors. They are useful in ensuring that Lewisham Borough remains a sustainable community that is safe for all its residents. The crime and disorder act (Metropolitan Police 2002, p. 10) aims at putting to an end crime in Lewisham. References Boguzas, L, 2002, A Mini-Audit of Crime Affecting Businesses in Lewisham: Year 1 Action of the Safe Businesses Initiative: Crime Reduction Plan 2002-2005, Lewisham Community Safety Partnership, Lewisham Borough. Metropolitan Police, 2002, Lewisham Borough Crime and Disorder Strategy, Publication Scheme, Lewisham Borough. Local Features, 2007, The State of the London Boroughs: An Economic, Social and Environmental Profile of Lewisham, The State of the London Boroughs – Audit, Lewisham Boroughs. Un-Habitat, 2007, Global Report on Human Settlement: Crime and Violence at a Glance, Un-Habitat, London: LDN. Sharma, R, 2004, Urban Sociology, Atlantic Publishers & Dist, New Delhi: Delhi. Read More