NCJ Number
208749
Date Published
November 2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Utilizing an analysis of the United Kingdom’s Crime Reduction Program, this paper illustrates that implementing a whole of government approach to crime prevention can present many practical challenges and difficulties needing careful planning and management in order to achieve improved benefits and override the additional costs.
Abstract
The many understood causes of crime range from aspects of an individual’s personal characteristics, the relationship with family and community, and social and structural factors. This understanding has brought about identified measures that can be used to bring about reductions and prevention of crime. With an understanding of crime and identified prevention measures, it’s recognized that the interventions making up these programs have a greater chance of success if they are designed and undertaken as a package of closely linked and coordinated measures or a “whole of government” approach to crime prevention. Whole of government approaches are built on the assumption that because the causes of crime are known to be complex and multifaceted, preventive responses will be more effective with the combined efforts of all the relevant government agencies involved in one coordinated strategy. However, the adoption of a whole of government approach to crime prevention must be thoroughly planned for and policy development and program implementation must be seen as a single integrated system. This paper reviews the United Kingdom’s Crime Reduction Program, one of the most ambitious and comprehensive crime prevention efforts in a Western country, to illustrate how hard implementing a whole of government approach can be. The paper provides important and useful lessons for consideration within the Australian context, as well as other countries. References