Community Policing and Youth Crime Prevention
By Debra Jenkins | National Main Street Center 1995 [This article was ahead of its time.]
Crime, unemployment, and the future of a fragile economy are primary concerns of a majority of Americans polled in recent months. Our evolution from a labor-intensive, industrial economic base to a knowledge-intensive, service economy has limited employment opportunities across all sectors. The accompanying economic and social stresses have taken their toll; large metropolitan areas and small communities alike have experienced widespread disinvestment and suffered the pernicious effects of rising crime.
As crime escalates, criminal justice issues and judicial reform have become the focus of national attention. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that in some cities, half of all young men will be arrested for a serious crime by age 17. Fiscally, it is increasingly difficult and expensive to incarcerate offenders, an approach that has not proven to bring a worthwhile return on investment. As noted in 'Healing America's Cities,' a recent Trust for Public Land (TPL) report, the annual cost of locking up one juvenile has risen to $30,000. Nationwide, this cost was calculated to be nearly $2.3 billion in 1993, a 35 percent increase in just five years.
As Arthur Ashe wrote in his book Days of Grace, 'We have an obligation to try to do something to counter this social and spiritual plague. Too many people have simply given up.' And indeed, a number of approaches are being explored as remedies to the problem of escalating crime.
Urban recreation and sports programs, for example, have been proven to reduce the rate of crime among young people. TPL reports that in Phoenix, teenage crime decreases by 55 percent in summer months when recreational facilities stay open until 2:00 a.m. The program serves 170,000 young people and costs a mere $0.60 per youth, compared to the $30,000 annual cost of incarceration.
In Fort Myers, Fla., juvenile arrests have dropped 28 percent since 1990, when the city launched its Success Through Academics and Recreational Support (STARS) program. STARS, which serves 1,500 young people, was named the outstanding crime reduction program of 1992 by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. As a return on its investment, STARS can point to the following: 80 percent of its participants have improved their grades to C or better, up from 75 percent who had a lower than C average at the outset.
Similarly, in Tampa, the establishment of a Boy's and Girl's club in a public housing project has led to a decrease in recidivism, drug trafficking and drug use. But recreational programs alone cannot solve the problems facing this nation's youth. An equally important approach has been to involve the community in law enforcement planning and implementation procedures. Known as Community or Problem-Oriented Policing, this effort is one of the most discussed and least understood topics under debate when crime prevention initiatives are discussed.
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