Summary of the Jurisdiction of the Proposed Criminal Prevention Initiative
The chosen jurisdiction in this case was the city of Detroit in Michigan, United States. Among all the states and territories of the United States, the city of Detroit simply had the highest incidence of violent crimes per capita. The table below summarizes key crime-related findings on the said jurisdiction. It covers the following metrics for a more detailed analysis and interpretation: population, number of reported cases of violent crime, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, robbery, rape, assault, and burglary. The said raw data came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI, 2014) report on crime in the United States; it specifically came from the organization’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
Analysis of the Current Trends from Three Comparable Cities
The data above represents the overall findings of the FBI for the entire year of 2014. It is also worth noting that the figures represent the crime rate specified per 100,000 people; this means that for Detroit for example, there are 1,988 reported crimes for every 100,000 of its people.
Crime Analysis Triangle
The figure below summarizes the crime analysis triangle for this specific program.
Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Evaluation – SARA
Determination of the Appropriate Crime Prevention Strategy
In order to address the ongoing problem in Detroit, Michigan's relatively high level of crime rate, at least when compared to other metropolitan areas in the United States with a population of more than 250,000, I am proposing the implementation of a crime prevention initiative that relies on a strategy called Alley-Gating. This proposed anti-crime strategy is inspired by practicality. Violent crimes often occur in dark and sparsely populated areas in the city. Areas in the city that would perfectly fit in that description would be streets and alleys. Alleys have long been used by criminals to perpetuate their criminal acts (e.g. sell drugs, mug people, and even murder and manslaughter someone); this can be evident even in films.
In some cases wherein the perpetrator has been caught by police officers in the act, they often use the alleys and crumpled streets to stage their escape, which they easily do especially if it is a person who also lives in a nearby community-meaning; he knows the ins and outs in the place that is being chased down. With the proposed strategy, alleys and small streets would already be gated. This means that they would no longer be freely passable by criminals and felons. By having the alleys secured by steel gates, it would already be impossible for the criminals to use it as an escape route whenever they get caught.
They will surely realize this and as a result, fewer and fewer criminals would even attempt committing an offense. Ideally, the gated alleys and streets should act as a deterrent against the commission of criminal activities. Under the proposed strategy, only alleys and streets where a higher than usual violent crime rate would be installed with gates—this only makes sense because it would require a huge amount of financial resources to have all the alleys and cramped streets gated just for the sake of crime prevention.
Review of Academic Literatures and Studies
The proposed crime prevention initiative is actually already being practiced in other western countries. According to the one academic literature reviewed for this paper, the strategy originated from England. The local police district allegedly reported a high level of crime rate in some areas that have non-gated alleys. So, in an effort to cut the high level of crime rate down, the authorities, in partnership with the members of the community, arranged for the gating of high risk alleys and streets . Basically, the target alleys and streets would be open during the day and closed during selected hours at night. This means that the target alleys and streets would still be passable for those who commute and walk going to their destination (could be to wok or anywhere). In order to step up this crime prevention initiative, however, I recommend the putting up of brighter street and alley lights in the target locations in order to deter the criminal from committing criminal acts .
According to a study published in the European Journal of Criminology, alley-gating attempts to prevent the vulnerability of certain locations to various types of crime by fitting robust gates across alley entry and exit points ; this way, the entry and exit of people in the said areas will be much more controlled. Their analysis showed that alley-gating indeed decreased, although indirectly, the crime occurrences in the targeted areas, although they recommended that a more detailed and widespread study be conducted. The same findings were also supported in other studies about alley-gating—basically, they all point to a more positive than negative outlook and perception about this crime prevention strategy .
Analysis of Various Programs
Other programs that may be worth reviewing may include the youth and adult curfew programs, engine immobilizing programs, and hot spot policing. The problem with these programs is that they complex and so a larger amount of fund would be required to implement them. With the program being proposed, only a small budget is needed, plus the impact on criminality is expected to be high.
Various programs may also include additional street lighting and additional environmental modifications that would make the streets and alleys safer even during the wee hours of the night which is when most crimes occur.
Recommendation on Funding Strategies for Program Implementation
This section of the crime prevention initiative report focuses on describing the funding strategies for the proposed program. For this initiative, I wanted to hit the best value for the money that the government, among other sponsoring entities, would inject. In line with this consideration, the jurisdiction that was chosen was also the one that has the highest number of crime occurrence per capita. It is in that setting where this program would most likely have the biggest impact. It is worth noting that when using the crime occurrence rates as a basis, both the actual number of crime occurrence and the population in the said jurisdiction should be considered. This is because of the simple fact that variations in population figures can make a huge difference. Two jurisdictions may, for example, have an equal number of crime occurrences; in such cases, it would be the one that has the lower population that would turn out to be the one having a higher crime rate because that means a larger percentage of its population are engaging in criminal activities. This is the rationale behind the use of the crime occurrence per capita as the basis of selecting the chosen jurisdiction. The financial backing should come primarily from the local, state, and federal government law enforcement and criminal justice departments.
The construction of the gates and street lights, for example, should be funded primarily by them. The maintenance of the equipment and infrastructure can be jointly funded by these government agencies and the members of the community who live adjacent to the gated and renovated locations. This way, the effectiveness of the initiative would be consistent. Because of the simplicity and practicality of this initiative, there should be no problem looking for the funds needed.
Anticipated Short and Long Term Outcomes
The table below summarizes the anticipated short and long term outcome for this initiative.
Conclusions
In summary, I believe that the proposed crime prevention initiative which is the alley-gating program should help the local, state, and federal government combat the continuously increasing crime rate in the country. So far, the literature backs the effectiveness and practicality of this intervention. The short and long term outcomes were set at 10% and 50% violent crime reduction, respectively, both of which are realistic figures. Furthermore, the community is set to participate in the implementation of the program, something which only makes the potential effectiveness of this program more impressive.
References
Armitage, R., & Smithson, H. (2007). Alley gating revisited: the sustainability of residents.
Cozens, P., saville, G., & Hillier, D. (2005). Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED): a review and modern bibliograph. Property Management, 328-356.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2014). 2014 Crime in the United States. FBI Criminal Justice Information Sciences Division.
Haywood, J., Kautt, P., & Whitaker, A. (2009). The effects of alley-gating in an English Town. European Journal of Criminology, 361-381.
Landman, K. (2003). Alley-gating and neighbourhood gating: are the two sides of the same face. Ponencia presentada en la Conferencia Gated Communities: Building Social Divisions or Safer Communities.
Manzi, T., & Bowers, B. (2005). Gated communities as club goods: segregation or social cohesion. Housing Studies, 345-359.
