It is now easy for mayors to access 50 years of evaluations of what has stopped crime before it happens. Further it is possible to get the most up to date recommendations from the UN and leading cities on how to get this practical knowledge used in their city and so save many lives, significantly reduce trauma and injuries, and help their constituents feel much safer.
The access is in Science and Secrets for Ending Violent Crime which uses an encyclopedic analysis of government sources and national task forces from across the world to identify actions that have been proven to stop violence before it happens. The implications of the analysis is made easy for the politician because each chapter comes with conclusions for decision makers in understandable terms. Some of these will be highlighted below.
It puts in one place the guidelines agreed by governments at the UN to stress seven essentials for those proven solutions to succeed locally. The essentials prioritize the importance of a high-level office for violence prevention, trained planners, community safety tools, and a smart plan to guide upstream investment. It shows the importance of tackling the roots of violence in poverty and disadvantage over the long term, but also how targeting the risk factors for those most involved in violence can achieve reductions in rates of violence of 50% or more within just a few years.
It sets out the compelling case for change from “accepting current rates of crime and escalating costs of police response” to ” saving lives, stopping trauma and injuries, and protecting women and children”. Overall applying the science smartly will reduce violence, invest in positive futures for young people, and avoid racialized police violence.
This blog provides an executive summary of some highlights with page numbers for more information. The book is available in English and Spanish.
Compelling Arguments for Making Smart Investments in Preventing Violent Crime
Study after study available on websites from the US Department of Justice, the World Health Organization, and advisory groups to legislatures confirms that smart investments in preventing violence before it happens are more effective and cost effective than the status quo of police and prisons. Importantly, they save lives, stop injuries and trauma and make citizens feel safer. For too long, growing police budgets and building more prisons have been crowding out early intervention and prevention.
Growing police and incarceration like Topsy may seem popular, but it has not worked in US cities and is not working in cities in Canada or UK. The evidence shows that smart investments in solutions proven to stop violence before it happens are generally more popular. Most – not all – victims of violence want the violence stopped (according to large scale government victimization surveys). Opinion polls show that investing in education and prevention is more popular than more police and prisons.
The combination of tough on causes and tough on crime has won elections, as demonstrated by Blair in the UK, Mandela in South Africa and now recently Sadiq Kahn, the Mayor of London. The costs of targeted social programming are affordable, likely less than 10% of what is being spent cumulatively after the tragedies in reaction.
The majority of the public want some type of policing response now to deal with emergencies and stop further violence, but the key to reducing expensive police response and investigations is to stop the violence before it happens. The key is to balance both now while reducing violence so that the need for emergency response is reduced.
Tough on Causes
The facts are clear that tackling causes and risk factors of violence before crime happens is the most effective and cost-effective way to reduce crime. Here are examples of targeted social programs that have been proven to be successful in stopping violent crime and are explained more in the book:
- Outreach to young men through initiatives such as Cure Violence or Youth Inclusion Programs (YIP). This approach consists of street workers outreaching to young men to interrupt gang affiliation, mediate violent conflict, and mentor at-risk individuals. See page 63 for more information.
- Hospital-based violence intervention programs, which consist of social workers intervening with victims of violence in hospital emergency rooms to deal with trauma, prevent revenge shootings, and encourage young men to abandon gang-like lifestyle. See page 72 for more information.
- Programs in school curricula that focus on emotion regulation and problem-solving in order to help young men develop self-management skills and reduce impulsive responses causing violence. Programs like Life Skills Training, Becoming a Man and Stop Now and Plan have achieved up to 50% reductions in offending. See page 70 for more information.
- Offering support to families through programs such as Multisystemic Therapy. This approach requires therapists to work in homes, schools, and communities to provide parents with tools to transform the lives of troubled youth. See page 69 for more information.
Proactive Partnership Policing
So called proactive policing that is problem solving upstream can prevent some tragedies of violent crime. When used in partnership with targeted social programming, the results are impressive. The book highlights approaches to policing for which there is evidence that proactive is effective.
- Problem-oriented policing requires police to identify hot spots of high crime rates and focus their efforts to suppress the problem. See page 49 for more information.
- Focused deterrence consists of focusing on likely offenders in order to increase deterrence using ¨call-in¨ and prosecution. Boston (USA) and Glasgow (Scotland) are two examples where these approaches achieved significant results. Indeed, Glasgow reduced street homicides (with knives) by 50% within 3 years and sustained further reductions for a decade. See page 48 for more information
Robust and Sustained Planning
Cities such as Glasgow that have achieved and sustained significant reductions in violence and homicide rates respected seven key elements that have been agreed at the UN for nearly 20 years but unfortunately not widely used. The success of Glasgow in reducing violence by 50% within three years and going on to get further reductions has inspired the Mayor of London (UK) to adopt the same strategy. The book describes the “seven essentials” for successful implementation of what works inspired by public health (see chapter 7).
- Establishing a permanent violence and crime reduction board for the city (see page 117). This responsibility centre is the energy behind developing and implementing crime prevention plans. City-level boards mobilize local talent, facilitate information sharing between sectors, and disseminate pertinent information to key stakeholders and the public.
- Being informed by violence prevention science and data (see page 118). It is crucial to base crime prevention on a multidisciplinary foundation of proven knowledge about crime problems, their causes, and promising and proven practices.
- Having an integrated crime prevention plan (see page 118). The UN Guidelines stress the need for a local plan that mobilizes various community and economic sectors to prevent crime. The plan must be based on diagnoses of local crime problems and should include performance standards, targeted solutions, training protocol, and outcome evaluations.
- Mobilizing sectors able to tackle causes (see page 119). Because of the nature of the risk factors that lead to crime, the permanent violence prevention board must mobilize talent able to help solve the problems. These individuals might include social workers, educators, health professionals, employment specialists, and sports figures as well as CJS workers.
- Having adequate and sustained funding (see page 121). Crime prevention requires adequate resources, including funding for structures and activities, in order to be sustained. There should be clear accountability for funding, implementation, and evaluation, and for the achievement of planned results.
- Developing standards and training for human talent (see page 121). For innovations to be successful, they will require the human talent capable of planning and implementing effective solutions.
- Having public support and engagement (see page 122). The public can play many roles in applying violence prevention science. They can become mentors, take precautions, and help map crime. They also can be advocates to get the permanent board and funding needed to implement crime prevention strategies. For instance, mothers and parents of at-risk young men tend to be successful actors in effecting change at the local and national levels.
