NCJ Number
173530
Journal
CPS Brief Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: February 1997 Pages: 1-15
Date Published
1997
Length
15 pages
Annotation
In presenting the minimization of harm as a goal for crime policy in California, four papers discuss the basic elements of a new crime policy; distinguishing crime from violence; crime prevention as a policy option; and drug enforcement, violent crime, and the minimization of harm.
Abstract
This report is based on the California Policy Seminar's Crime Policy Project, which commissioned several of the Nation's leading criminologists to consider ways to address the critical problem of crime in California. Project researchers have concluded that the guiding principle of crime policy in California should be minimizing harm. The first of five papers outlines the basic elements of a harm minimization policy: recognition that citizens are most concerned about violent crime; a focus on prevention programs that have proven they can reduce the amount of harm that violent crime produces; and the use of alternative punishment to redirect available resources away from nonviolent criminals. The second paper advocates a focus on a crime policy to counter violent crime rather than the lumping of violent crime into a general "get tough" policy toward all types of crime. The third paper identifies some opportunities for intervention in the development cycle of children and youth as a cost-effective strategy for reducing violent crime. The fourth paper argues for the expanded use of alternative punishment as a cost-effective means of managing all but the most dangerous offenders. The final paper describes an approach for minimizing the harm caused by drug offenses and drug-related violent crime.