Living in a completely safe world is an unreachable dream, there will always be crime. But that doesn’t mean that through taking certain measures that we can’t reduce the amount of crime that there is.
Crime prevention is all about stopping crime before it happens. It’s always good to have plans of what to do after a crime is committed, a plan of how the police will handle the situation, a plan of how the legal proceedings will go, etc. But it’s even better if we can keep those crimes from happening in the first place.
This article is all about the different types of crime prevention and how important they are for us to have the safest communities that we can. Because although we can’t live in a crime-free world, we can try to.
But first let’s talk about a quick disclaimer…
The Difference Between Crime Prevention and Crime Control
Crime prevention refers most commonly to taking action to keep crimes from being committed at all, whereas crime control refers more to what responses are taken after a crime in order to keep it from happening again.
Both of these things are similar in the way that they’re trying to prevent future criminal activity but different in how they go about it. And today we’re discussing crime prevention, and not crime control. So keep that distinction in mind while you’re reading this article.
What are some ways to prevent crime before there are even signs that it will occur?
These two strategies are going to be heavily focusing on humanitarian work that is being done to prevent crime. These steps are taken very early on, most of the time before it is even apparent that a crime will take place at all. And they are the very earliest steps available to take.
- The first method of crime prevention that we’ll be looking at is improving living conditions.
A lot of crimes, or petty crimes at least, tend to be committed out of desperation
from the criminal. People who live in less than desirable conditions may turn to
excessive drinking or drugs. People struggling to get jobs might steal some pocket
money from a stranger.
By no means are these things excuses for committing illegal and immoral acts, but
circumstances do sometimes lead to actions. So one method of preventing crime is
to try and improve living conditions in certain areas.
Building affordable housing, providing food for low-income people, making sure
health care is available for all, and much more steps like these can be taken to
reduce how many people are desperate enough to commit crimes.
- One of the other main methods is stepping in early with the country’s youth.
Remember that the main point of crime prevention is to step in early, and get to the
root of things before it’s too late to make a profound change. And by taking that core
concept to heart you can tell how interacting with youth could make a big difference.
With groups of kids who have been labeled as higher risks to become offenders or
in some cases, victims, there have been programs created to reach out and educate
them. And not only that, but also to help them establish themselves as productive
and law abiding citizens at an early age in order to prevent future criminal activity.
What are some crime prevention techniques that civilians can do themselves?
Having safer communities depends a lot on each and every community member to take prevention seriously. So in the interest of educating the general public on how they can take crime prevention into their own hands, here are some of the top things that anyone can do to prevent crime.
- Don’t leave anything unlocked.
One of the most basic things that you can do prevent petty crimes like thievery is to
simply not leave your property unlocked. This goes for your home, and your car. It
also applies whether or not you’re at home or not.
You need to make sure that all doors are locked, but don’t forget about the windows.
Of course it’s okay to leave windows open for fresh air if you feel comfortable doing
that, but make sure to close them before you leave your home or car unsupervised.
- Always be aware of lighting.
This is applicable in several ways. Firstly you want to avoid being in not well-lit areas
after dark. You should also avoid parking your car in dark areas as well, always park
where there is some type of light if you’re driving at night.
Secondly you should always leave a light or two when you leave the house. One
exterior light and at least one interior light. The point of this is to seem like the house
is occupied in order to deter criminals from thinking that can easily break in without
being caught. Use some timers for extra realism if you can.
- Keep your valuables out of sight.
If you have valuable items in your house, especially if they are small and would be
easy to take, then you should always keeps them put away so that they aren’t visible
through windows to tempt thieves in. This will also decrease the chances that they
will be stolen if someone does break in.
But also keep valuables out of sight if you store any in your car. It would be all too
easy for someone to break the windows of your car to steal something valuable
if they see it through the window. And never leave your keys in the car by accident.
In conclusion, although we can’t keep crime from ever happening, there are some things that we can do as a community to keep less crime from occurring and get close to the point we want to be as a society.