1. Target your efforts in specific places where crime concentrates (a specific address, alleyway, intersection, block, or cluster of blocks). Crime is extremely concentrated: approximately 50% of a city’s crime occurs in less than 5% of its addresses. In suburban and rural areas, this concentration may be even greater.
2. Proactive strategies are much more effective than reactive ones. General response to 911 calls, random patrols, and arrest after the fact are less effective in preventing crime. Proactive tactics use past information to anticipate hot spots and hot times of crime, repeat offenders and victims, and high-risk situations in order to direct police activities.
3. Effective proactivity requires problem solving and developing tailored strategies. You are more likely to be effective if you tailor your strategy to a particular problem/condition. Many strategies designed to target specific problems exist, including the SARA Problem-Solving Model, High-Risk or Crime Locations strategies, and CPTED.
4. Remember that citizens’ reactions matter. The most proactive, place-based and problem-solving strategies will not be effective if they engender negative community or citizen reaction or if they are unlawful or unconstitutional. Anticipating reactions and working with communities is needed for many strategies.
In an effort to provide helpful suggestions in areas that have not yet been fully studied or evaluated, we have included ideas for responses and activities that may not yet be considered evidence-based or evidence-informed. Therefore, not all actions and strategies included within this App are evidence-based or evidence-informed.