NCJ Number
87630
Journal
Public Relations Review Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (Spring 1982) Pages: 51-58
Date Published
1982
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Atlanta has sought to reduce violent crime through the establishment of a group to coordinate crime prevention efforts, a program to facilitate citizen reporting of street harassment downtown, a '10 Most Wanted' program, a citizen's alert program, the interface of police and private security downtown, and a police crime prevention program.
Abstract
The Crime Commission Forum brings many diverse groups together regularly to exchange information and ideas on crime problems and crime prevention efforts. This has produced less duplication of effort and more rapid policy implementation. Central Atlanta Progress, a downtown business association, has spearheaded efforts to counter the physical abuse and harassment of persons on downtown streets. Police booths have been placed at key pedestrian locations, equipped with telephones linked directly to police emergency operators. Crime report forms are also available at the booths to eliminate citizens having to wait for police to arrive. The 'Atlanta 10 Most Wanted' program circulates pictures and information about persons being sought by the police, and a citizen's alert program instructs citizens on recognizing suspicious activity and informing the police. Cooperation between the police and private security in downtown businesses has been facilitated by enabling private security personnel to talk via radio either with the base station of company security or a police dispatcher, who can send whatever assistance is required. Other efforts contributing to crime prevention have been aggressive police recruitment, a business watch program whereby businesspersons cooperate in looking for suspicious activity related to businesses in close proximity to one another, as well as various projects designed to help protect black children given the recent wave of missing and murdered children.