NCJ Number
93206
Date Published
1981
Length
90 pages
Annotation
Two followup surveys to evaluate a residential and commercial crime prevention project in Roseburg, Ore., revealed a small, statistically insignificant decrease in households experiencing burglary, a sizeable reduction in commercial burglaries, and a significant increase in credit card fraud.
Abstract
In Roseburg, a medium-sized city, crime prevention officers participating in the project mainly enlisted citizen and business participation in crime prevention activities and trained other officers in crime prevention techniques. In the baseline period from July 1976 to July 1977, the burglary reduction project was expanded, and the followup survey covered July 1978 to July 1979. To evaluate project effectiveness 444 citizen responses to questionnaires were analyzed. The results indicated that 4.4 percent of respondents households were burglarized during the baseline period, compared to 4.0 in the followup period. Personal and household theft increased slightly, but responses suggested that violent persons crimes occurred relatively infrequently. Crime prevention measures generally stayed at similar levels. While 89 percent of the respondents in both surveys reported locking their doors when leaving, the percentage of individuals who reported locking garages and windows dropped slightly from 70 and 95 to 63 and 89 percent, respectively. Only 8.4 percent in the followup displayed antiburglary decals, and the number who had engraved their property with identification numbers was about 19 percent in both surveys. In the commercial survey of 100 establishments, 90 were returned for the baseline and 86 for the followup. The most prevalent crimes were shoplifting and worthless checks. A significant reduction in burglaries and attempted burglaries was observed. Approximately 60 percent of the surveyed businesses were aware of the crime prevention program. Improved door locks were the most frequent type of security improvement made over the previous 5 years. Both surveys showed that many individuals and businesses do not make changes to deter victimization until after they have been victimized one or more times. Tables, a bibliography, and appendixes containing sample questionnaires and survey information are supplied.