Crime Prevention Law Enforcement and Public Opinions About Crime - Crime Prevention

Crime prevention programs implemented by state and local agencies receive over $3.2 billion in U.S. Department of Justice grant funds each year. In 1996 the United States Congress issued a mandate to the Attorney General to authorize an evaluation of the effectiveness of these programs. The University of Maryland's Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice was selected to conduct the evaluation and issue a report. That report, "Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising," was published in July 1998 as a Research in Brief by the National Institute of Justice (Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC).

In evaluating crime prevention programs throughout the United States, researchers looked at both the process employed by each program (how it was designed to work), and the impact of each program on reducing crime in a number of categories, such as in schools, families, communities, businesses, and high-crime areas. Based on ratings of between one (weakest) and five (strongest) in each category, researchers divided crime prevention programs into those that worked and those that did not work. Programs that worked had ratings of three or higher in at least two categories, while those that did not work had ratings of less than three in all categories or in all but one category. Crime prevention programs were rated as "promising" if there was no conclusive evidence of overall success or failure but the program received a level three evaluation or higher in at least one category and was "found to be effective by the remaining evidence."

What Worked

For small children, frequent home visits to infants under the age of two by trained nurses or aides reduced the incidence of child abuse as well as other injuries to children, and an arrest by age 15 occurred less frequently among preschoolers under the age of five who received weekly home visits from teachers. Among adolescents, risk factors for delinquency such as aggression and hyperactivity were more effectively dealt with by parents who had participated in some type of family therapy or parenting classes.

Several types of school-based programs were identified as being effective. A combination of consistency with school rules, reinforcing positive behavior among students, and implementing school-wide programs such as anti-bullying campaigns reduced the incidence of crime and delinquency. Long-term programs such as Life Skills

TABLE 9.3
Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by type of assignment, 1993–2002
Circumstance at scene of incident by type of assignment

			1-officer vehicle		Foot patrol		Other*
Circumstance	Total	2-officer vehicle	Alone	Assisted	Alone	Assisted	Alone	Assisted	Off duty
Total	56	6	17	15	1	0	2	10	5
Disturbance calls	9	2	1	5	0	0	0	1	0
Bar fights, person with firearm, etc.	4	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
Family quarrels	5	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
Arrest situations	10	1	1	1	0	0	0	5	2
Burglaries in progress/pursuing burglary suspects	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Robberies in progress/pursuing robbery suspects	4	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
Drug-related matters	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Attempting other arrests	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Civil disorders (mass disobedience, riot, etc.)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Handling, transporting, custody of prisoners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Investigating suspicious persons/circumstances	8	0	4	2	0	0	0	2	0
Ambush situations	15	2	3	3	1	0	2	1	3
Entrapment/premeditation	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Unprovoked attacks	11	2	3	3	1	0	1	0	1
Mentally deranged assailants	4	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
Traffic pursuits/stops	10	1	7	1	0	0	0	1	0
*Includes detectives, officers on special assignments, undercover officers, and officers on other types of assignments that are not listed.
SOURCE: "Table 22: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed, by Circumstance at Scene of Incident Type of Assignment, 2002," in Crime in the United States, 2002: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 9.4
Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by type of weapon, 1993–2002
Type of weapon

Weapon	Total	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Total	636	70	80	74	61	71	61	42	51	70	56
Firearms	591	67	79	62	57	68	58	41	47	61	51
Handgun	443	51	67	43	50	50	40	25	33	46	38
Rifle	112	13	8	14	6	12	17	11	10	11	10
Shotgun	36	3	4	5	1	6	1	5	4	4	3
Knife or cutting instrument	8	0	0	2	1	2	1	0	1	0	1
Bomb	9	0	0	8	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Personal weapons	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
Other	25	3	1	2	2	0	1	1	3	8	4
Note: The 72 deaths that resulted from the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.
SOURCE: "Table 26: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed, by Type of Weapon, 1993–2002," in Crime in the United States, 2002: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

Training in the areas of stress control, anger management, and problem solving helped to reduce delinquency and substance abuse, as did the use of behavior modification techniques in teaching thinking skills to juveniles at high risk of delinquency.

Police programs rated effective in reducing crime included extra police patrols in high-crime areas and the use of specialized units that identified and monitored repeat offenders once they were released into the community. The study found that the arrest of employed domestic abusers reduced the rate of future incidents of domestic abuse by the same individuals.

Among other programs, the threat of filing civil actions against landlords for not reporting drug offenses helped to reduce the incidence of drug crime on their premises, while drug treatment programs in prison reduced the rate of repeat drug offenses by prison parolees. Treatment also proved effective in reducing overall repeat offender rates among both juveniles and adults when the treatment program was targeted at risk

TABLE 9.5
Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by profile of known assailants and age groups, 1993–2002
Profile of known assailants, age groups

Known assailants	Total	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Total	785	93	114	93	85	76	77	49	64	73	61
Age
Under 18 years	83	16	18	17	7	3	11	3	4	2	2
18–24 years	290	32	38	31	37	25	27	24	20	32	24
25–30 years	150	12	24	14	23	19	17	10	11	10	10
31–40 years	117	9	15	17	6	17	10	10	8	13	12
Over 40 years	109	13	13	11	10	12	11	2	14	10	13
Age not reported	36	11	6	3	2	0	1	0	7	6	0
Average years of age	28	28	27	27	27	30	27	27	32	29	32
Note: The 72 deaths that resulted from the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.
SOURCE: "Table 38: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed, Profile of Known Assailants, Age Groups, 1993–2002," in Crime in the United States, 2002: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 9.6
Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by profiles of known assailants, race, and sex, 1993–2002

Known assailants	Total	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Total	785	93	114	93	85	76	77	49	64	73	61
Race
White	417	37	60	50	34	38	45	27	44	45	37
Black	307	46	46	38	39	31	24	19	16	24	24
Asian/Pacific Islander	15	0	2	2	3	4	2	0	0	2	0
American Indian/Alaskan Native	14	0	1	2	2	3	3	2	0	1	0
Race not reported	32	10	5	1	7	0	3	1	4	1	0
Sex
Male	750	84	105	85	84	76	76	47	62	72	59
Female	22	1	5	7	1	0	1	2	2	1	2
Sex not reported	13	8	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Note: The 72 deaths that resulted from the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.
SOURCE: "Table 39: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed, Profile of Known Assailants, Race and Sex, 1993–2002," in Crime in the United States, 2002: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 9.7
Law enforcement officers feloniously killed, by profile of known assailants and criminal history, 1993-2002

Known assailants	Total	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Total	785	93	114	93	85	76	77	49	64	73	61
Prior criminal arrest	528	55	62	62	48	59	54	41	51	48	48
Convicted on prior criminal charge	373	31	41	38	42	55	34	30	29	37	36
Received juvenile conviction on prior criminal charge	67	6	6	4	6	5	12	6	1	12	9
Received parole or probation on prior criminal charge	287	25	35	31	31	35	23	22	25	29	31
Prior arrest for
Crime of violence	245	19	45	43	28	24	18	11	20	19	18
Murder	22	3	4	1	1	1	5	1	3	1	2
Drug law violation	252	24	26	34	22	34	27	21	13	23	28
Assaulting an officer or resisting arrest	146	15	25	20	11	13	7	19	9	17	10
Weapons violation	240	26	40	28	26	27	17	19	19	19	19
Note: The 72 deaths that resulted from the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.
SOURCE: "Table 42: Law Enforcement Officers Feloniously Killed, Profile of Known Assailants, Criminal History, 1993–2002," in Crime in the United States, 2002: Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

TABLE 9.8
Gender and race or ethnicity of full-time federal officers with arrest and firearm authority in agencies employing 500 or more full-time officers, June 2002

		Percent of full-time federal officers with arrest and firearm authority
				Race/ethnicity
		Gender
Agency	Number of officers*	Male	Female	Total minority	American Indian	Black or African American	Asian or Pacific Islander	Hispanic or Latino, any race
Immigration and Naturalization Service	19,407	87.9%	12.1%	46.7%	0.5%	5.0%	2.7%	38.1%
Federal Bureau of Prisons	14,457	86.4	13.6	40.0	1.4	24.9	1.5	12.3
U.S. Customs Service	11,977	81.4	18.6	36.4	0.8	6.9	3.7	24.7
Federal Bureau of Investigation	11,398	82.0	18.0	16.8	0.4	6.1	3.0	7.3
U.S. Secret Service	4,266	90.3%	9.7%	20.3%	0.8%	11.9%	1.9%	5.6%
Drug Enforcement Administration	4,111	91.4	8.6	17.7	0.5	7.9	2.0	7.3
U.S. Postal Inspection Service	3,175	82.3	17.7	37.2	0.4	23.2	4.2	9.4
Internal Revenue Service	2,868	72.0	28.0	22.1	0.9	9.8	4.4	7.1
U.S. Marshals Service	2,692	88.4	11.6	17.6	0.6	7.1	2.1	7.6
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms	2,362	87.1%	12.9%	19.8%	1.1%	9.2%	1.9%	7.4%
National Park Service	2,148	84.8	15.2	12.8	1.6	5.1	2.1	4.1
Ranger Activities Division	1,558	83.1	16.9	9.9	2.1	2.1	1.9	3.9
U.S. Park Police	590	89.3	10.7	20.7	0.2	13.1	2.7	4.7
Veterans Health Administration	1,649	91.4	8.6	40.8	1.2	28.3	1.3	9.8
U.S. Capitol Police	1,225	81.2%	18.8%	33.0%	0.2%	29.0%	1.0%	2.8%
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service	728	88.9	11.1	12.0	3.6	1.8	0.4	6.0
GSA-Federal Protective Service	709	90.7	9.3	40.3	0.4	30.4	1.1	8.5
USDA Forest Service	611	78.1	21.9	18.8	7.1	3.6	1.5	6.5
Bureau of Diplomatic Security	592	90.4	9.6	16.7	0.8	7.3	3.7	4.9
Note: Data on gender and race or ethnicity of officers were not provided by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Detail may not add to total because of rounding or because of personnel classified as "other" race.
*Includes employees in U.S. Territories.
SOURCE: Brian A. Reaves and Lynn M. Bauer, "Table 5: Gender and Race or Ethnicity of Federal Officers with Arrest and Firearm Authority, Agencies Employing 500 or More Full-Time Officers, June 2002," in Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, August 2003

factors related to the underlying criminal offense, such as aggression or childhood abuse.

What Did Not Work

Despite their popularity and widespread use, gun buy-back programs, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), and "Scared Straight" programs that brought juvenile offenders face-to-face with hardened prison inmates were among programs rated ineffective by researchers. Among other popular programs, boot camps using military-like discipline and regimentation failed to reduce the rate of repeat offenders among both juveniles and adults. Similarly, shock probation, shock parole, and split sentences under which offenders were briefly incarcerated before being released to a supervised community setting did not reduce the incidence of repeat offending any more than programs that placed similar offenders directly under community supervision without an initial period of incarceration.

According to the report, the incarceration of serious offenders at high risk of re-offending was effective in preventing future crimes; however, the less serious the offender, the less likely incarceration was to have a demonstrable impact on future crimes.

As discussed earlier, the arrest of employed domestic abusers reduced repeat offenses of domestic abuse; however, the opposite occurred among domestic abusers who were unemployed. According to the report, "Arrests of unemployed suspects for domestic assault caused higher rates of repeat offending over the long term than nonarrest alternatives" that addressed the underlying problems that contributed to the unemployment, such as substance abuse.

Summer-job and subsidized work programs also failed to reduce crime or arrests, as did police newsletters with local crime information.

What Was Promising

The report lists the following programs as among those that are potentially helpful in reducing certain types of criminal activity or repeat offending:

• Proactive drunk driving arrests with breath tests may reduce accident deaths.
• Community policing, including meetings with area residents, may reduce inaccurate perceptions of crime.
• Mailing arrest warrants to domestic violence suspects who leave the scene before police arrive may reduce repeat offenses.

TABLE 9.9
Public opinion poll on attitudes of respondents toward most important problem facing the country, 1983–2003
QUESTION: "WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM FACING THIS COUNTRY TODAY?"

	Oct. 7–10, 1983	Feb. 10–13, 1984	Jan. 25–28, 1985	July 11–14, 1986	Apr. 10–13, 1987	Sept. 9–11, 1988	May 4–7, 1989	July 19–22, 1990	Mar. 7–10, 1991	Mar. 26–29, 1992	Jan. 8–11, 1993	Jan. 15–17, 1994	Jan. 16–18, 1995	May 9–12, 1996	Jan. 10–13, 1997	Apr. 17–19, 1998	May 23–24, 1999	Mar. 10–12, 2000	Jan. 10–14, 2001	Mar. 4–7, 2002	Feb. 3–6, 2003
High cost of living; inflation; taxes	12%	10%	11%	4%	5%	2%	3%	2%	2%	8%	4%	4%	7%	11%	6%	7%	3%	13%	6%	2%	2%
Unemployment	41	29	20	23	13	9	6	3	8	25	22	18	15	13	NA	5	4	2	48		10
International problems; foreign affairs	7	11	NA	NA	NA	4	4	NA	1	3	8	3	2	4	3	4	3	4	4	2	8
Crime; violence	5	4	4	3	3	2	6	1	2	5	9	37	27	25	23	20	17	13	9	1	2
Guns/gun control	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	(a)	NA	NA	1	10	7	1	NA	NA
Fear of war/nuclear war; international tensions	14	11	27	22	23	5	2	1	2	NA	NA	NA	(a)	NA	NA	NA	2	NA	(a)	12	35
Ethics, moral, family decline	5	7	2	3	5	1	5	2	2	5	7	8	6	14	9	16	18	15	13	7	4
Terrorism	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	22	10
Excessive government spending; Federal budget deficit	4	12	18	13	11	12	7	21	8	8	13	5	14	15	8	5	1	4	1	1	3
Dissatisfaction with government	2	2	NA	NA	5	NA	2	1	NA	8	5	6	5	12	7	8	5	11	9	4	2
Economy (general)	4	5	6	7	10	12	8	7	24	42	35	14	10	12	21	6	3	6	7	18	34
Poverty; hunger; homelessness	NA	NA	6	6	5	7	10	7	10	15	15	11	10	7	10	10	7	5	4	4	3
Drugs; drug abuse	NA	NA	2	8	11	11	27	18	11	8	6	9	6	10	17	12	5	5	7	3	2
National security	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	6	3
Trade deficit; trade relations	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	3	3	1	1	4	3	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	(a)	NA	NA
Education; quality of education	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	2	3	2	2	8	8	7	5	13	10	13	11	16	12	7	4
Environment; pollution	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	4	5	2	3	3	1	1	3	1	2	2	2	2	2	1
AIDS	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	1	2	*	3	2	2	1	*	1	1	*	*	*	NA	NA
Abortion	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	*	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	1	0	1	1	*	2	1	*	1
Health care	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	12	18	20	12	10	7	6	5	8	7	6	5
No opinion; don't know	4	4	3	3	4	12	7	5	6	2	2	2	2	7	6	4	2	6	8	4	5
Note: Exact wording of response categories varies across surveys. Multiple responses are possible; the Source records up to three problems per respondent. Some problems mentioned by a small percentage of respondents are not included in the table. Sample sizes vary from year to year; the data for 2003 are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,001 adults, 18 years of age and older, conducted Feb. 3-6, 2003.
*Less than 0.5%.
SOURCE: "Table 2.1: Attitudes toward the Most Important Problem Facing the Country," in Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003. The Gallup Organization, Inc.

FIGURE 9.1
Gender and race of full-time federal officers with arrest and firearm authority, June 2002

• Battered women's shelters may help some women reduce the likelihood of being victimized again.
• Gang monitoring by community workers and probation and police officers may reduce criminal gang activity.
• Community-based mentoring by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America may prevent drug abuse.
• Schools that group students into smaller units, like a school within a school, may prevent school crime.
• Job Corps residential training programs for at-risk youth may reduce the incidence of felony offenses.
• Prison-based vocational education programs for adult inmates in federal prisons may reduce repeat offending.
• Adding a second clerk in a convenience store that was previously robbed may reduce store robberies.
• Drug courts may reduce repeat drug offending.
• Drug treatment in jails with follow-up urine testing in the community may reduce the rate of drug re-offenses.
• Intensive supervision and aftercare of juvenile offenders may reduce the rate of re-offending for both minor and serious crimes.
• Community-based after-school recreation programs may reduce local juvenile crime.

Neighborhood Watch

According to the report, "Neighborhood watch programs organized with police failed to reduce burglary or

TABLE 9.10
Public opinion poll on respondents' attitude toward level of crime, 1989–2002
QUESTION: "IS THERE MORE CRIME IN THE U.S. THAN THERE WAS A YEAR AGO, OR LESS?"

	More	Less	Same*	No opinion
1989	84%	5%	5%	6%
1990	84	3	7	6
1992	89	3	4	4
1993	87	4	5	4
1996	71	15	8	6
1997	64	25	6	5
1998	52	35	8	5
2000	47	41	7	5
2001	41	43	10	6
2002	62	21	11	6
*Response volunteered.
SOURCE: "Table 2.31: Attitudes toward Level of Crime in the United States 1989–2002," in Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003. The Gallup Organization, Inc.

other target crimes, especially in higher crime areas where voluntary participation often fails." The latter point on voluntary participation was echoed by The National Sheriffs' Association, which founded the current National Neighborhood Watch Program in 1972 with funding from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. According to information provided by the National Sheriffs' Association, "Communities that need neighborhood watches the most are the ones that find it the hardest to keep them. This is particularly the case with lower income neighborhoods. Typically, adults in these neighborhoods work multiple jobs with odd hours, making it difficult to schedule meetings and organize events. It also makes it difficult for neighbors to get to know and care about one another in a way that makes them feel comfortable watching out for one another."

Still, according to the National Sheriffs' Association, the National Neighborhood Watch Program has proved successful in reducing crime in many neighborhoods across the country. For example, in Minnesota in the late 1990s, existing Neighborhood Watch programs mobilized in response to a rise in crime and assisted local police in clearing an average of 25 percent of cases. Similarly, in the late 1990s, with the help of Neighborhood Watch programs in Fairfax County, Virginia, burglary rates dropped by 90 percent.

According to the National Sheriffs' Association, "Although not all Neighborhood Watches report success, and most of the time they fail to fully mobilize the residents, most of these programs are successful. Further, these programs often produce positive results beyond reducing crime, such as social interaction or cleaning up the neighborhood."

TABLE 9.11
Public opinion poll on respondents' attitudes toward crime in own area, 1972–2002
QUESTION: "IS THERE MORE CRIME IN YOUR AREA THAN THERE WAS A YEAR AGO, OR LESS?"

	More	Less	Same*	No opinion
1972	51%	10%	27%	12%
1975	50	12	29	9
1977	43	17	32	8
1981	54	8	29	9
1983	37	17	36	10
January 1989	47	21	27	5
June 1989	53	18	22	7
1990	51	18	24	8
1992	54	19	23	4
1996	46	24	25	5
1997	46	32	20	2
1998	31	48	16	5
2000	34	46	15	5
2001	26	52	18	4
2002	37	34	24	5
*Response volunteered.
SOURCE: "Table 2.33: Attitudes toward Level of Crime in Your Area, 1972–2002," in Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003. The Gallup Organization, Inc.