The ‘New York Miracle’ – a remarkable drop (over 60%) in crime during the 1990s – has been credited by some to the dramatic change in the policing policies of the New York Police Department. They built these policies around the Broken Windows theory of crime, which argues there is a connection between disorder and crime. But at the heart of the revamp were some very practical, specific policies that research elsewhere in the United States and internationally has shown are effective:
- Deterrence by increased police presence: A perceived increase in the likelihood of getting caught by police can deter some offenders from engaging in criminal activity.
- Patrolling crime hotspots: A high proportion of crimes are committed in a small area, which can be reduced by police ‘making proactive, medium length stops at these locations on a random, intermittent basis’.
- Targeted arrests: A large proportion of crimes are also committed by a small number of criminals, so by aiming to take repeat offenders off the street and out of circulation, the crime rate may be reduced.
There have been some positive initiatives in Australia following on from this overseas research, but they have not been supported by an increase in resources, namely more police. In Australia, the number of police has failed to keep pace with the escalating crime rate over the past 40 years and has fallen from 225 officers to just 60 officers per 1,000 serious reported crimes.
The ideal solution would be to increase Australia’s police numbers to their former strength. However, this would require over 110,000 more police nationwide and would cost billions – not entirely feasible under current government budget constraints. More police do need to be part of crime prevention policies, but we propose that Australia trial an initiative from the United Kingdom that may make the increase in police more viable.
In 2002, the United Kingdom Home Office introduced Police Community Support Officers (CSOs). They provide a visible authority presence in the community and directly assist local police with order-maintenance and low level crime. They are under the control of, and are accountable to, the police service and have the potential to significantly aid crime prevention.
Two key crime prevention policing policies thus emerge from the review of overseas experience:
- Australia needs to be looking at a highly visible police presence, particularly in crime hotspots, coupled with targeted arrests; and
- Australia needs to provide police with the resources to implement preventative policing, including more police and a trial of CSOs.
Nicole Billante is a Research Assistant at The Centre for Independent Studies and the author of (2003).
