Crime Prevention Coalition of America Essay

Crime Prevention Coalition of America is the crime prevention program that this paper will cover. During this paper I will attempt to discuss what Crime Prevention Coalition of America is and what their philosophy is. It will also show the element or elements of the crime triangle that the Crime Prevention Coalition of America program seeks to address. This paper will analysis how the Crime Prevention Coalition of America works, it will also including statistical support, of the success of the program in affecting crime. A critical analysis of the effectiveness of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America. Commentary on the impacts of societal factors that deals with the Crime Prevention Coalition of America. Then I will attempt to make a prediction concerning the technological advancements of the program and the resulting success or failure based upon those advancements. â€Å"The Crime Prevention Coalition of America is a nonpartisan group of more than 400 national, state, federal, and community-based organizations united to promote citizen action to prevent crime. Established in 1980, its members include youth development organizations, municipalities, law enforcement agencies, federal and state government representatives, state crime prevention associations, and community-based groups† (NCPC, 2012). The Crime Prevention Coalition of America works with all these groups to ensure a way to make safe communities. â€Å"The philosophy of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America believes that: Preventing Crime Is * Everyone’s business * More than security * A responsibility of all levels and agencies of government * Linked with solving social problems * Cost-effective Preventing Crime Requires * A central role in law enforcement * Cooperation and collaboration by all elements of the community * Education * Tailoring to local needs and conditions * Continual evaluation and improvement† (NCPC, 2012). Under the philosophy of Crime Prevention Coalition of America it is everyone’s job to help prevent and control the criminal element. This group believes that each of us should do are part in preventing crimes and making sure that the people who are committing crimes are held accountable. The Crime Prevention Coalition of America brings the community and law enforcement together, because this group knows that law enforcement can’t control the criminal element alone. The crime triangle is made up of three different things they are: target, desire, and opportunity. All of these have to be present of a crime to be successful. The element or the elements of the crime triangle that the Crime Prevention Coalition of America are all three of the elements that make up the triangle. â€Å"The first element of the crime triangle is desire. That is the criminal’s drive, intent and motivation. There is nothing you can realistically do to curtail or eliminate that desire. Once he has the desire, he is looking for a target and an opportunity. A target is anyone who appears to be an easy victim. A target appears not to be aware of their surroundings and appears easy to overtake or overpower. An easy target, by definition, will not put up any resistance. The next element is opportunity. You control this by paying attention to your environment. Are you in a bad area of town? Are you walking in an unlit area? Are you in a secluded area? Are you letting strangers in too close to ask questions – not defining personal boundaries? Limiting opportunities is about being aware of your environment and your intuition to remove yourself from a questionable environment once you sense danger† (Women’s Self-Defense Institute, 2002-2012). With the knowledge that the Crime Prevention Coalition of America gives people in the community and the knowledge that it gives to the law enforcement group it allows people to be aware of the three elements of the crime triangle and it allows you to remove the ones that you are capable of changing. Of the three elements of the crime triangle you can’t do  nothing about the desire part because that is all up to the criminal, however you can change the way you are looked at as a target and the opportunity of becoming a victim. These two parts of the crime triangle you can be taught to manage and be aware of. The way that this program can teach you about the desire part of the crime triangle is that it teaches you to the observation of the people around you. With knowing who is around you, you will be able to see how a person who is acting weird and maybe up to no good. The Crime Prevention Coalition of America works to prevent crimes in many ways; it will also show the statistical support to show how effective they are in this area if there is proof and with the success of the program in affecting crime and crime rate. â€Å"In October 2007, the National Crime Prevention Council, in partnership with the Crime Prevention Coalition of America and the U.S. Department of Justice, hosted the 8th National Conference on Preventing Crime: Helping Build Safer Communities, in Atlanta, GA. CPCA members received a member discount of $50 off their registration fees for the conference. The conference offered more than 65 educational sessions presented by the nation’s leading crime prevention specialists on topics such as emerging trends in crime prevention, bullying, Internet safety, community preparedness, Neighborhood Watch, gang prevention, fraud prevention for senior citizens, and more. The conference provided a forum and training for all crime prevention practitioners to identify and learn about emerging trends and issues and ways to address them; to network with colleagues from across the country, sharing experiences and successes; and to renew commitments to prevention as a priority in reducing crime. The National Conference on Preventing Crime has proven to be a driving force in disseminating crime prevention information nationwide and promoting crime prevention issues to policymakers at the national, state, and local levels†( The Crime Prevention Coalition of America, 2007). â€Å"The Crime Prevention Coalition of America has developed a number of strategies to help carry out its mission of making crime prevention a grassroots community movement and a national priority. The Coalition has worked to * Develop and implement a crime prevention action initiative to enlist individuals, businesses, faith communities, community groups, and governments to implement prevention strategies, tactics, and programs, building on the success of the National Citizens’ Crime Prevention Campaign * Identify, develop, and promote  community-level programs, projects, policies, and approaches that have proven successful in reducing crime * Establish substantive themes for community action initiatives * Foster shared responsibility among Coalition member organizations to encourage prevention-focused reporting on crime * Enhance the structure and operations of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America to help its member organizations provide leadership in the effort to reduce and prevent crime * Create Coalition member task groups to focus on specific issues of concern to member organizations * Strengthen the National Crime Prevention Council, the secretariat of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America, to be the nation’s primary source for crime prevention information† (NCPC, 2012). These are the strategies that the Crime Prevention Coalition of America has put into place to try to get its message across and away to provide people with the knowledge to keep themselves and their love ones from becoming a victim of criminal active. According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance there are still things we don’t know about the effectiveness of these programs and if they are the true cause for the drop in the crime rate â€Å"While there is some evidence of the effectiveness of some community-based programs, there is still much to learn about the impact of these programs on crime. To date, there are relatively few methodologically rigorous evaluations of these programs. As a result, researchers have often not been able to establish whether the program or other factor(s) were responsible for the observed outcomes. Isolating a community crime prevention program’s effect has been particularly difficult due to factors such as: * program evaluation costs; * identifying appropriate comparison areas; * implementation of multiple programs in a community; * small samples; * individualized nature of the intervention; and * Data collection problems (e.g., refusal of stakeholders to support data collection efforts). Despite some positive results to date, evidence of crime reduction or prevention attributable to community-based crime prevention programs is limited. Until more methodologically rigorous evaluations are conducted, it is not possible to determine whether the lack  of positive results is due to flawed program theory, weak evaluation designs, or poor program implementation†(2008). So with this evidence it is hard to determine if the program works or not. There is a lot that goes into a successful program and it is like anything else that is successful in this world, it is going to be a lot of hard work and it will require a lot of time to go into it to make it a success. There is an old saying that anything worth having is worth working for and nothing comes easy. This includes crime free communities to have a crime free community you have to work hard at it. Societal factors that deals with the Crime Prevention Coalition of America are the fact that normal everyday people are willing to stand up and hold people accountable for their actions whether it be someone you know or a person that is a complete stranger to you. â€Å"Citizens need to work closely with local law enforcement serving as the eyes and ears of the community. Dr. Warr suggests three ways to better align perceptions with actual risk: 1) Educate people about the context of crimes that are reported in the media 2) Educate them about the facts surrounding likelihood of victimization 3) Address the environmental cues to danger All these efforts are mainstays of crime prevention, which the Crime Prevention Coalition of America defines as â€Å"a pattern of attitudes and behaviors directed both at reducing the threat of crime and enhancing the sense of safety and security, to posi tively influence the quality of life in our society, and to help develop environments where crime cannot flourish.†(Crime Prevention Matters, 2008). The prediction concerning the technological advancements of the Crime Prevention Coalition of America and the resulting whether they will be successful or failures based upon these advancements. â€Å"Under the umbrella of the new strategic plan, NCPC will continue to supply resources, tools, and training to reduce the opportunities for crime. In the fall of 2007, through the support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department Justice, NCPC released Volume 3 of Crime Prevention Presentations, a CD-ROM for use by CPCA members. These presentations are in PowerPoint format and cover topics such as online predators, preventing violence in the workplace, prisoner reentry, and keeping information safe in the technology age. Volumes 1 and 2, which include presentations on 15 crime prevention topics, are available free online. Each presentation is designed to educate, increase awareness, and teach prevention strategies. These presentations are  ideal for CPCA members who are not able to travel to training events due to budget or personnel constraints†( The Crime Prevention Coalition of America,2007). With their program changing to stay up with the advancements in technology the program seems to me like it has insured its survival for now. As long as you can change your program just enough to adapt to the changes in the world around you then you will ensure the life of your program. With the every change world of technology and the evolving world of crime these crime prevention programs will have to continue to change to stay up with the changes in our every changing lives. The Crime Prevention Coalition of America is a crime preventing program that has been around for a while now and with its longevity it has partnered up or help create other organizations to help people prevent or fight crime in their neighborhoods. The Crime Prevention Coalition of America was established to teach people and to show people what will and can happen if crime sets up shop in their communities. This program is a successful one because it not only focuses on prevent crimes but it also can help people who have been victims regain control of their lives. â€Å"He who does not prevent crime when he can, encourages it.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Roman philosopher, Seneca (Crime Prevention Matters. 2008). References Bureau of Justice Assistance. (2008). BJA. What Have We Learned From Evaluations of Community-Based Crime Prevention Programs?. Retrieved 10 December 2012, from https://www.bja.gov/evaluation/program-crime-prevention/cbcp2.htm. Crime Prevention Matters. (2008). NCPC. Crime Prevention Matters. Retrieved 10 December 2012, from http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/misc/crime-prevention-matters.pdf. NCPC. (2012). National Crime Prevention Council. About. Retrieved 9 December 2012, from http://www.ncpc.org/programs/crime-prevention-coalition-of-america/about NCPC. (2012). National Crime Prevention Council. Crime Prevention Coalition of America. Retrieved 9 December 2012, from http://www.ncpc.org/programs/crime-prevention-coalition-of-america. The Crime Prevention Coalition of America. (2007). NCPC. Mobilizing the Nation to Prevent crime, Violence and Drug Abuse. Retrieved 10 December 2012, from