NCJ Number
79893
Date Published
1981
Length
49 pages
Annotation
This report discusses the development and activities of the Coalition for Action (CFA)--a New Orleans, La., program designed to prevent crime and increase a sense of community among residents.
Abstract
Specific problems targeted by the CFA have been a prevalent fear of crime; alienation of youths, the poor, and blacks; lack of community institutions capable of addressing the crime problem; lack of cooperation between the criminal justice system, the police in particular, and the community; lack of coordination among community-development efforts and anticrime activities; and increasing sense of isolation among residents; and crime against the elderly. The primary goals of CFA have been to assist in the formation of neighborhood organizations and help foster their growth and ability to solve problems, as well as aiding neighborhood organizations to form coalitions among themselves to address problems. Highlights of activity and anticrime accomplishments have been growth in the population served from 11 percent of the city's population to 26 percent, the formation of about 250 block clubs, the creation of an elderly victim assistance program, the creation of an anticrime resource directory, and the creation of police-community relations panels in every city district. Overall, neighborhood involvement has grown; specific crime probblems have been solved; several crime-causing problems have been addressed; and understanding of the criminal justice system has increased among citizens. A new crime-statistic system, introduced in early 1980, makes overall assessment of crime decreases impossible. Details are provided on program activities and methodologies.