Siding with crime victims requires successful prevention
2012/05/18
Being on the side of crime victims requires successful implementation of violence prevention that works. For the harm done by the offender, he is responsible. For the harm done because we do not use the best knowledge when that is available to us, we are responsible.
If governments and so taxpayers are to pay on the basis of results in reducing crime, we would see a massive shift from traditional policing strategies and mass incarceration to smart problem oriented policing and targeted social crime prevention.
Successful implementation requires key actions that are too often ignored. The education, social service and police agencies that can tackle the causes of violence must become part of the solution. A new cadre of professional preventionists must be developed. We will only get results if we can measure them. The public is more supportive than many politicians but both must be engaged.
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New Optimism for Urban Violence Prevention
2012/03/11
A new study confirms sustainable ways for violence prevention to succeed against one of the most intransigent challenges for urban violence. It organised the empirical knowledge to demonstrate that the cycle of violence affecting urban Aboriginal peoples in Canada is amenable to ¨risk focused¨ prevention.
Stakeholders in positions to implement prevention agree with the science but lack the political and financial support to sustain the actions that would save lives and avoid wasted taxes. However, a growing number of ¨super-cops¨ in Canada, UK and USA are calling for actions that continue smart enforcement but embrace and fund effective prevention.
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Shoutout – States to Reinvest in Violence Prevention, Not More Costs
2012/02/05
States have easy access to a plethora of proven ways to prevent violence. Unfortunately there is a penury of investment in effective violence prevention.
The Pew Center has started partnerships with some States to assist them to invest in prevention and other ways of reducing crime and so avoid cost over-runs due to excessive use of incarceration.
They are shifting the conversation from how much punishment to how much prevention will reduce harm to victims and at what cost to taxpayers.
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Where is the evidence that prevention reduces crime?
2011/12/17
Government agencies now provide searchable data banks of promising best practices which have been proven to prevent crime. Leading experts point to the successful ways to reduce violence by focusing on early childhood, youth programs and actions on violence against women.
Pioneering practitioners, experts and jurisdictions are balancing smart enforcement with greater investment in proven and logical prevention strategies. They call for braiding policing, schools, housing, social services and so on.
This blog provides selected sources for seven topics that recur in the pragmatic discussions about how to invest and make the successful shift to much greater reduction of crime and prevention of victimization.
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Posted in CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS | Tagged balance enforcement and prevention, cities, corrections, courts, Crime Prevention, crime reduction board, crime victim rights, gangs, mass incarceration, policing, Reinvesting in justice, Violence Against Women, youth crime
Rights for Victims of Crime: A Seven Point Check List for Legislators
2011/11/18
There are too many victims. Many still do not get the services and rights that different jurisdictions show are possible.
My book Rights for Victims of Crime highlights many best practices as well as the tools and resources that are needed to advance law enforcement, service agencies and the legal profession. The book includes a model law that provides a comprehensive draft text for legislators.
Here is a check list of seven core rights that legislators must respect, and use, to reform laws and programs so that there are fewer crime victims and the survivors get the respect, services and rights that are practically and financially possible in 2012 and beyond.
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Posted in CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS | Tagged compensation, courts, Crime Prevention, crime victim assistance, crime victim law, crime victim legislation, crime victim rights, criminal justice, law enforcement, office for victims of crime, policing, representation, restitution, Violence Against Women
