NCJ Number
76295
Date Published
1979
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The formation and operation of a regional crime prevention unit for Kershaw, Lee, and Sumter Counties, S.C., are described.
Abstract
The regional crime prevention unit is staffed by four officers, one each from the four law enforcement agencies involved. The unit is an expansion program from the crime prevention unit of the City and County of Sumter. Using funds from a 3-year LEAA grant, two officers attended a 4-week course at the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville (Kentucky). Subsequently, the officers studied the crime problems in the city and county and decided to focus crime prevention activities on property crimes, because they constituted the greatest crime problems, and provided a target-hardening approach to crime prevention, which offered the greatest promise of success. The first year of operation (1976) was devoted to educating the public and soliciting support in crime prevention efforts. Educational efforts yielded requests from homeowners and businesses for security surveys, which produced target-hardening. A crime prevention van was also purchased, from which all visual aids, brochures, pamphlets, and other handouts were readily available. Because it was determined that 70 percent of the property crimes had been committed by juveniles 16 years old and under, officer visitation programs to the schools were mounted. The Sumter City and County crime prevention program was then expanded to the adjoining counties of Kershaw and Lee. Federal funding will diminish in each of the 3 years of the project and then terminate. The hope is that local funds will then maintain the program.