Safety and Crime Prevention Examples

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Unique Program in Utah Enlists Community Volunteers to Help Fight Crime

In Utah, the Draper Police Department formed a volunteer Mobile Neighborhood Watch, and included community leaders, business owners and church group members in an effort to increase safety in a mountainous area experiencing fast population growth. With the support of federal COPS funds, the volunteers were trained to patrol the rough areas using all-terrain vehicles, horses, mountain bicycles and foot patrols.
http://citizencorps.utah.gov/USAonWATCH.html#Draper

Community Design Helps Reduce Crime in Cincinnati Neighborhood

Using elements of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, which incorporates design principles in community planning in efforts to deter crime, leaders in Cincinnati, Ohio, promoted collaboration between the Cincinnati Police Department and community organizations to reduce crime rates in the city’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Efforts included cleaning up the neighborhood, creating green spaces, adding outdoor art, transforming a previously crime-ridden abandoned lot into a landscaped butterfly garden and increasing policing in high-crime areas. The police department and community organization enhanced a park with planters, benches, lighting and trashcans to encourage social interaction and discourage littering, loitering and drug crimes. Following these efforts, Cincinnati experienced a 22 percent reduction in crimes including murder, rape and robbery. The city also experienced 15 percent reduction in crimes for non-aggravated assault including vandalism and drugs. Additionally, community involvement with the police department has almost doubled.
www.lisc.org/content/publications/detail/6963

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