American crime prevention: trends and new frontiers.

• Author: Schuck, Amie M.

La prevention du crime est a la croisee des chemins aux Etats-Unis. Apres des decennies d'efforts couronnes de succes, la prevention est entree dans les moeurs en Amerique, et les strategies de prevention commencent a faire partie integrante des politiques gouvernementales. Neanmoins, il reste encore beaucoup d'incertitude relativement a la forme, au fonctionnement et au contenu des programmes de prevention. Dans le passe, les initiatives de prevention misaient sur les techniques de surveillance et de neutralisation, et privilegiaient essentiellement la lutte contre les armes, les gangs et les drogues. Au cours des dix dernieres annees, des formes de prevention plus novatrices ont ete incorporees dans les politiques publiques. Toutefois, le conservatisme ambiant, combine a la peur du terrorisme et a la rarefaction des sources de revenu, favorise le retour a la surveillance et a la neutralisation. Comme il n'y a pas d'organisme responsable en propre de la prevention du crime aux Etats-Unis, ni meme un programme national de lutte contre le crime, l'action en la matiere se fait au coup par coup dans ce pays. A l'heure actuelle, les themes qui dominent le discours americain sur la prevention du crime sont ceux des systemes d'integration de l'information et de la technologie de prevention, des partenariats entre organismes charges de l'application de la loi, des interventions ciblees. En revanche, il est peu probable que les tendances actuelles de la criminalite se maintiennent. Malgre les quantites impressionnantes de donnees probantes accumulees ces dernieres decennies a l'appui de l'utilite des initiatives de prevention du crime, les pressions en faveur du retour a la logique desuete de la dissuasion et de la punition sont encore enormes.)

Introduction

As Americans looks forward in the twenty-first century, the future is filled with considerable uncertainty. The war in the Middle East, the fear of terrorism, the fragile economy, the outsourcing of American jobs, and the rising costs of health care dominate public discourse. For the first time in 10 years, crime is not among the top concerns of the American people. This change is not surprising, given that Americans have witnessed a major national decline in crime over the past several decades. Violent crime, violence in families, violence among youth, and property crime have all decreased dramatically. In fact, 2002 violent crime rates were among the lowest ever recorded by the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003), and property crime rates were half of what they were 20 years ago and even lower than those reported by some Western European countries and Australia (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2002).

Although there is some disagreement about what has caused the dramatic decline in crime, most agree that specific crime reduction policies, such as policing initiatives, increased incarceration, gun control tactics, and youth substance abuse and violence prevention strategies, have played a significant role (Travis and Waul 2002). The impact and importance of crime prevention efforts are now being recognized. Research conducted by several scholars, including research on promising crime prevention practices by Lawrence Sherman (Sherman, Gottfredson, MacKenzie, Eck, Reuter, and Bushway 1997), partnerships and problem-solving by Dennis Rosenbaum (Coldren, Costello, Forde, Roehl, and Rosenbaum 2002), causes and correlates of juvenile delinquency by David Huizinga, Rolf Loeber, and Terence Thornberry (Causes and Correlates of Delinquency n.d.), and the Blueprints for Violence Prevention initiative (Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence n.d.) have had a significant impact on crime prevention practice and policy. Policy makers continue to promote the use of crime prevention programs, particularly those that are evidence based or knowledge based. The picture of success, however, is not entirely positive. National economic difficulties have led to worries that crime prevention programs will lose important financial support. Many fear that removing resources from prevention efforts will leave a legacy of escalating crime and violence problems for future generations to handle.

American crime prevention is in many ways at a crossroads. After decades of successful efforts, the concept of prevention has clearly become embedded in the American lexicon, and prevention strategies are slowly becoming a routine part of public policy. Even so, there are still great uncertainties about the form, function, and emphasis of justice-related prevention programs. Historically, crime prevention efforts in the United States have used techniques of surveillance and selective incapacitation and focused primarily on guns, gangs, and drugs. Over the past 10 years, more progressive forms of prevention have been incorporated into public policy, including community justice models and principles of restorative justice. However, the current conservative climate has combined with the fear of terrorism and declining sources of revenue to precipitate a renewed emphasis on surveillance and selective incapacitation. Which of the models will come to dominate the American crime prevention landscape is an open question. One thing is clear, however: the answer, as it emerges, will map the future direction of American crime prevention.

The present article discusses current trends in American crime prevention. The literature, particularly the writings of influential justice organizations, indicates that three overarching themes dominate the discourse on crime prevention. First, there has been a tremendous new emphasis on information sharing and crime prevention technology. The September 11 terrorist attacks dramatically changed the landscape of the criminal justice community: resources and funding were reallocated and government agencies reorganized, and even the RAND Corporation changed the name of its Criminal Justice Unit to "Public Safety and Justice" to accurately reflect the new national security priorities (RAND Corporation 2002). Throughout these transitions and changes, there has been a consistent message--the need for better information sharing. In this arena, there is little distinction between terrorists who threaten national security and criminals who threaten public safety. In addition to the need for better information sharing, there has also been an increased emphasis on prevention technology. Because of national security concerns, this emphasis/change in prevention has led to the development of technology to detect weapons of mass destruction. The development and application of such technologies to other areas of crime prevention, such as school safety, correctional settings, and drug detection, are also increasingly emphasized.

Second, there is a continued push to develop justice-related partnerships. The use of partnerships in American crime prevention is not a new phenomenon. Now, however, more and more importance is being given to collaborations between justice organizations, particularly local and federal law enforcement agencies. Partnerships are also being expanded to other areas of crime prevention, such as child welfare and prisoner re-entry. Some of the emphasis on partnerships ties in to the need for better information sharing. Most, however, is related to the belief that a combination of resources brought together by multiple organizations is better able to develop, implement, and oversee crime prevention efforts than any one particular justice organization alone.

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