. Improving Crime Prevention Knowledge and Practice Essay

Title
Homel, P., 2009. Improving crime prevention knowledge and practice. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, November, Issue 385, pp. 1-6.
Topic
Existing research helps identify the importance of developing of a national framework for technical support to ensure an effective sustainable crime prevention effort. The author suggests the need to consider the establishment a crime prevention technical assistance fund.
Context
During the late nineties Australian research started to recognise the importance of developing the strategy of crime prevention. The United Nations Council for Economic and Social Development (ECOSOC) passed resolution 1995/9 ‘Guidelines for the prevention of urban crime’, in which the strategies of crime prevention were acknowledged as important and successful. This was again reiterated by the Secretary General at the 2004 Security Council (Homel 2009, p. 1) during his opening address.
Despite confirmation of a continued decline in crime both here and internationally, there is recognition that the nature of crime is changing. It is no longer constrained by national borders. The advent of new technologies and telecommunication techniques has resulted in a number of emerging trends, including the way communities respond to crime. The media has reported many extreme examples including beach riots in Cronulla, drug and crime in Cabramatta, young Mr Thomas Hickey, Macquarie Fields, and the Muslim riots in Sydney.
This has helped change how government and Police respond and reignited recognition of the importance of developing sustainable strategies that engage both the community and their leaders. Australia has a long distinguished history of citizen engagement and since 1939 the activities of the New South Wales Police Citizens Youth Clubs have helped showcase the importance of crime prevention through citizen engagement.
The publication looks at crime prevention strategies from both the local and international perspective, the references provided show that the author has followed the debate intently since early 1998. The author is influenced by research from the Australian perspective.
The publication has identified the importance of using multidiscipline & multiagency strategies. This is also reflected in (AIC 2012, p. 15) ‘This may include action to improve housing, health and educational achievement, as well as improved community cohesion through community development measures’. This results in wider reader potential across a wide range of contexts including education, business, health, law, rehabilitation, nursing, government, employment and training.
It is readily acknowledged that it is a complex emerging field and that Criminology, Law and Justice are key disciplines. Over the last decade a realisation has emerged of a need to recognise the role professions, earth sciences, social sciences and formal sciences play in the successful implementation of solutions.
Structure
The publication is an essay which focuses on development and implementation of a national framework for a technical support. A brief introduction (Homel 2009, p.1) sets the foundation upon which the realisation of effective crime prevention can be discussed. The author establishes an argument for the development of a main stream approach to crime prevention and presents examples (p.2) to support this necessity. Recognising the lack of understanding about the true nature of the crime prevention, the problem is then simplified (p.2) by examining examples and identifying two basic forms. International experiences and their correlations are discussed and the eight principles of crime prevention (p.3) are explained and examined. The author then presents a strategy (p.4) on how this might be achieved within Australia. Then suggests mechanisms at national level to develop capacity building resources (p.5) and highlights the need for this to be addressed in short term.
Style
The publication provides an exceptionally detailed and concise presentation of facts and research. It is lean with little or no jargon. It appears to be written with the expectation that reader will read the entire publication. The publication aims to provide senior management involved in forward planning or strategic policy development with a carefully crafted précis of the problems, strengths of the existing crime prevention strategy and present recommendations’ for further research and discussion.
Argument
The crime prevention strategy throughout in Australia is still regarded by many as a support activity and that international research shows that it is more effective and resilient when structured in a long term ‘systematic & integrated fashion’ (Homel 2009, p.2).
It examines the effectiveness of existing strategies and argues their effectiveness is hindered because of the failure to invest adequate resources and expertise into a set of technical problems that include aspects of knowledge engineering, skills development, general management and sustainability.
It is stated that lack of expertise, lack of information, and best practice are significant issues that can effectively be improved through the establishment of a national framework for technical support and the creation of crime prevention technical assistance fund (p. 4). This will engender sufficient change to ensure that crime prevention will emerge as a systemic and well integrated platform that contributes to economic growth, investment, community wellbeing and cohesion.
Evidence
The publication is from the internationally respected Australian Institute of Criminology. An examination of the various references provided show that all data is sourced from predominately authoritative sources that include the United Nations (UN), the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) and their counterparts in other jurisdictions.
Other Australian key researchers’ including Don Weatherburn from the NSW Bureau of Crime Research and Robert White at the University of Tasmania acknowledge the need to address technical support and establish a technical assistance fund. All three Australian researchers are recognised experts in crime research and have written extensively on crime prevention.
A preliminary investigation of other publications after this date including (AIC 2012, p. 127) and (Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, p. 83) shows continued to support the basic argument and it is against this background that significant data and research is presented that supports the assertions presented in the publication.
Evidence is provided on both local and international crime trends. Data is examined using authoritative sources including Australian Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Canada, Home Office, London and United States Bureau of Justice Statistics. From a United States perspective the author acknowledges the difficulties associated with changing information collection (Homel 2009, p.1) strategies. The International Criminal Victimisation Survey is then used to provide correlation to the basic data, which is used as the basis of a qualitative analysis.
An economic financial estimation is provided on the overall cost of crime in Australia. This is again well researched by the AIC and separate reference is provided for those interested in this particular aspect.
Well documented examples are provided throughout. Many of the Australian observations are shown to have correlation with international experience. Multiple references are used to strengthen each claim and reduce the risk of unsubstantiated generalisations. Many of the references used still find relevance in later research including (AIC 2012, p. 130) and (Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, p. 335).
The author examines each recommendation presented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and uses the evidence as the basis for a strategy on implementation a solution in an Australian context.
Evaluation (including reviews or citations)
This is an early publication and much of the data provided in the report is more the five years old. However, many expert opinions regard this publication as a significant milestone on future development of a comprehensive and sustainable crime prevention strategy. This forward and the forward in ‘Effective crime prevention interventions for implementation by local government’ (AIC 2012) reiterate the importance of addressing these existing problems that reduce the effectiveness of crime prevention.
A recent ‘Inquiry into locally based approaches to Community Safety and Crime Prevention’ (Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, p. 74) reiterates much what is said on (Homel 2009, p. 3) and provides a historical reference to similar findings from other researchers. It is interesting to observe the importance this report places on establishing the validity of the evidence and recommendations throughout this publication. The report acknowledges many aspects of this publication including the importance of sustained funding (p. 79), the importance of adequate training (p. 168), the importance of evaluation (p. 251) and the importance of strong leadership (p. 269). The Australia and New Zealand Crime Prevention Senior Officers’ Group (p. 276) commissioned the development of ‘a new National Crime Prevention Framework’ provides further credence of this publication’s importance.
The original author’s proposal for the adoption of a crime prevention technical assistance fund required consultation and engagement with existing stakeholders in order to implement (Homel 2009, p. 5). The need to establish mechanisms to improve training, resources, personnel, and provide guidance and provide support to both local governments and community organisations is articulated once again in (AIC 2012, p. 128).
It is clear that that the aim is to develop a national approach, probably under the jurisdiction of the Australian Institute of Criminology. My cursory review of (Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, p. 275) report would lead me to believe that there may be some opposition to establishing national body.

Conclusion
A national approach to crime prevention is mandatory, in the short term consultation and engagement are useful strategies, but the nature of crime is changing and jurisdictional issues are already significantly reported. The importance of quality and capacity building (AIC 2012, p. 128) and development of localised crime prevention strategies (Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, p2) are still issues of significant interest.
Despite the emergence of specialisation in crime prevention it is clear throughout Australia and internationally that the development of a robust technical support infrastructure to support localised crime prevention strategies will help provide the necessary knowledge, skills and oversight. The use of uniform performance measurement and benchmarking will ensure accountability and will lead crime prevention along the process of continuous improvement.
The development of a robust national curriculum offers significant benefits beyond the scope of learning. It has a capacity to contribute long term improvements across all areas of public safety as well engaging disparate entities and authorities’ towards a common long term goal.
After reading this publication I was easily convinced that a proposal to establish a crime prevention technical assistance fund had significant merit and that the creation of a national framework for a technical support was well researched and required.

References
Homel, P., 2009. Improving crime prevention knowledge and practice. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, November, Issue 385, pp. 1-6.
AIC 2012, ‘Effective crime prevention interventions for implementation by local government’, Research & Public Policy Series, no. 130, report prepared by Morgan, A., Boxall, H., Lindeman, K. & Anderson, J. of the State of New South Wales (Department of Attorney General and Justice), Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra.
Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, ‘Inquiry into locally based approaches to Community Safety and Crime Prevention’, report to the Parliament of Victoria, Melbourne.

References: Homel, P., 2009. Improving crime prevention knowledge and practice. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, November, Issue 385, pp. 1-6. AIC 2012, ‘Effective crime prevention interventions for implementation by local government’, Research & Public Policy Series, no. 130, report prepared by Morgan, A., Boxall, H., Lindeman, K. & Anderson, J. of the State of New South Wales (Department of Attorney General and Justice), Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. Drugs and Crime Committee 2012, ‘Inquiry into locally based approaches to Community Safety and Crime Prevention’, report to the Parliament of Victoria, Melbourne.