NCJ Number
238363
Date Published
2011
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This technical report from the Australian Institute of Criminology discusses the use of community night patrols in the Northern Territory to improve community safety in Indigenous communities.
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a project funded by Attorney-General's departments in Australia to determine the effectiveness of using community night patrols in Indigenous communities to improve community safety. The primary purpose of community night patrols is non-crisis crime prevention and not increased policing efforts. Community night patrols have the ability to gather and share local knowledge about community safety issues and solutions thus reducing the need for repeat assistance from police for dealing with persons at risk and for risky incidents. This report presents an improved performance and reporting framework that was developed as a result of the project evaluation. In order to develop the framework, four issues in the operating environments of patrols were examined: separating the roles of community night patrols and roles of police; responding to the lack of essential complementary services in communities to support patrols; recruiting appropriate local staff, and retaining and training them; and working in diverse situations in regard to governance and community cohesion. The development of program logics, or analytical tools, for use in establishing community night patrols is discussed. The key performance areas and indicators for community night patrols are included in Appendix A, while Appendix B includes a generic program reporting guide for community night patrols. Table, figures, and references