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1 – 10 of 494Adrian Cherney and Adam Sutton
The authors discuss trends in crime prevention and community safety particular to Australia. They report on research examining the role local government community safety officers…
Abstract
The authors discuss trends in crime prevention and community safety particular to Australia. They report on research examining the role local government community safety officers (CSOs) play in the formation and implementation of crime prevention strategies in their home state of Victoria. The paper is based upon interview data conducted with CSOs and will assess key challenges and problems encountered in the management and implementation of strategies at the local level. Issues assessed include the role of community safety practitioners as ‘change managers’. Broader lessons relating to training, capacity building and strengthening the role of local government are drawn from the research that are of relevance to community safety policy in the UK and abroad.
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Daniel Gilling and Gordon Hughes
The role of the community safety practitioner is a newly emerging expertise in local government. A survey conducted with local authorities reveals a relatively fluid and…
Abstract
The role of the community safety practitioner is a newly emerging expertise in local government. A survey conducted with local authorities reveals a relatively fluid and unstructured profession of highly educated or experienced individuals with heavy workloads. Practitioners inhabit a contested policy terrain in which they express a preference for a social regeneration agenda rather than narrower crime specific strategies.
The purpose of this paper is to consider primary prevention from the perspective of person-based crime prevention. This crime prevention measure is illustrated by an Australian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider primary prevention from the perspective of person-based crime prevention. This crime prevention measure is illustrated by an Australian case study. The report also recognises the integral role the community plays in the delivery of primary person-based crime prevention.
Design/methodology/approach
This short paper adopts a case study approach.
Findings
The paper illustrates the purpose and achievements of primary person-based crime prevention, including the success it has in reducing crime and improving feelings of safety in the community. The important role of community members and their contribution to this crime prevention method is offered.
Practical implications
The practical implications this paper offers are to ensure community members are involved in the delivery of primary person-based crime prevention, to explicitly measure the contribution community members make to primary person-based crime prevention initiatives, to explicitly measure the contribution primary person-based crime prevention makes to the reduction of crime, and to build on the known success of primary person-based crime prevention through the implementation of more initiatives within this area of crime prevention.
Originality/value
Primary person-based crime prevention can be overlooked in favour of primary place-based crime prevention. This short paper offers an insight into an overlooked aspect of crime prevention.
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Gordon Hughes and Adam Edwards
This article sets the scene for the contributions in this special edition of Community Safety Journal. It examines the political contexts of community safety initiatives, compares…
Abstract
This article sets the scene for the contributions in this special edition of Community Safety Journal. It examines the political contexts of community safety initiatives, compares transatlantic and European traditions and discusses convergent and divergent themes.
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This article traces the development of ideas and policies linked to the shifting definitions of crime reduction, prevention and community safety. The conceptual changes are often…
Abstract
This article traces the development of ideas and policies linked to the shifting definitions of crime reduction, prevention and community safety. The conceptual changes are often difficult to define due to imprecision and breadth. Community safety is sufficiently broad to be concerned with a range of harms and hazards beyond crime and disorder, which may become the focus of the emerging new forms of government.
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Belgium has experienced widespread change in its public sector. The author describes the structure of community safety provision that has resulted. This article describes research…
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Belgium has experienced widespread change in its public sector. The author describes the structure of community safety provision that has resulted. This article describes research conducted in 4 Belgian cities. It argues for a conflict‐accepting model of partnership where the differing philosophies of the constituent agencies are accepted and where human creativity is respected. Such a model will reduce the problem of differential power relations that can lead to the exclusion of some social groups.
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In March, Pavilion and the University of Luton organised a conference ‐ Community Safety Five Years On. This article reviews the contributions of the speakers. It argues for the…
Abstract
In March, Pavilion and the University of Luton organised a conference ‐ Community Safety Five Years On. This article reviews the contributions of the speakers. It argues for the need to embrace the wider social exclusion agenda and unless community safety becomes a working habit, it risks returning to the limited status of ‘crime prevention’.
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Michael Levi and Matthew Leighton Williams
– This paper aims to map out multi-agency partnerships in the UK information assurance (UKIA) network in the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to map out multi-agency partnerships in the UK information assurance (UKIA) network in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper surveyed members of the UKIA community and achieved a 52 percent response rate (n=104). The paper used a multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) technique to map the multi-agency cooperation space and factor analysis and ordinary least squares regression to identify predictive factors of cooperation frequency. Qualitative data were also solicited via the survey and interviews with security managers.
Findings
Via the quantitative measures, the paper locates gaps in the multi-agency cooperation network and identifies predictors of cooperation. The data indicate an over-crowded cybersecurity space, problems in apprehending perpetrators, and poor business case justifications for SMEs as potential inhibitors to cooperation, while concern over certain cybercrimes and perceptions of organisational effectiveness were identified as motivators.
Practical implications
The data suggest that the neo-liberal rationality that has been evoked in other areas of crime control is also evident in the control of cybercrimes. The paper concludes divisions exist between the High Policing rhetoric of the UK's Cyber Security Strategy and the (relatively) Low Policing cooperation outcomes in “on the ground” cyber-policing. If the cooperation outcomes advocated by the UK Cyber Security Strategy are to be realised, UKIA organisations must begin to acknowledge and remedy gaps and barriers in cooperation.
Originality/value
This paper provides the first mixed-methods evidence on the multi-agency cooperation patterns amongst the UKIA community in the UK and highlights significant gaps in the network.
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This paper aims to explore the tripart relationship between British police officers, Local Authority representatives and community members based on a Midlands neighbourhood case…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the tripart relationship between British police officers, Local Authority representatives and community members based on a Midlands neighbourhood case study. It focuses on experiences of the strengths and challenges with working towards a common purpose of community safety and resilience building.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected in 2019 prior to enforced COVID lockdown restrictions following Staffordshire University ethical approval. An inductive qualitative methods approach of semi-structured individual and group interviews was used with community members (N = 30) and professionals (N = 15), using a purposive and snowball sample. A steering group with academic, police and Local Authority representation co-designed the study and identified the first tier of participants.
Findings
Community members and professionals valued tripart working and perceived communication, visibility, longevity and trust as key to addressing localised community safety issues. Challenges were raised around communication modes and frequency, cultural barriers to accessing information and inadequate resources and responses to issues. Environmental crime was a high priority for community members, along with tackling drug-related crime and diverting youth disorder, which concurred with police concern. However, the anti-terrorism agenda was a pre-occupation for the Local Authority, and school concerns included modern slavery crime.
Originality/value
When state involvement and investment in neighbourhoods decline, community member activism enthusiasm for neighbourhood improvement reduces, contrasting with government expectations. Community members are committed partnership workers who require the state to visibly and demonstrably engage. Faith in state actors can be restored when professionals are consistently present, communicate and follow up on actions.
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This article subjects rural community safety to critical scrutiny. It reviews the background to this rural governmental infrastructure, considers how well it is working and…
Abstract
This article subjects rural community safety to critical scrutiny. It reviews the background to this rural governmental infrastructure, considers how well it is working and identifies the barriers to the effective development of rural community safety. It concludes with an agenda for rural community safety.
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