Crime Prevention

Crime prevention is any activity, public or private, that reduces criminal behavior. To be effective, programs and policies must be based on sound, scientific principles that reflect the recognition that crime is prevented in many ways using both social services and technology.

Crime prevention, for example, may include substance abuse treatment, mentoring, gang intervention, tutoring, conflict resolution, developing self-sufficiency skills, counseling, job training assistance, support services, and parental and family services.

Crime prevention includes strategies to reduce crime, such as creating partnerships and problem-solving efforts tailored to eliminate a specific problem.

Crime prevention also includes “target hardening”—actions to make buildings and streets safer, including the use of video cameras, fences, barriers and other environmental designs.