Prevention Works

Cyber-Fighting Crime

Nowadays, social networking sites have made us so well-connected that we often have to be reminded of the importance of privacy and security when we share our personal information. This is certainly true: everyone needs to take proper precautions in their endeavors on the World Wide Web. That being said, we often fail to acknowledge the contributions of such networking sites to current crime prevention efforts.

Law enforcement professionals have recently capitalized on the unique crime-fighting opportunities that websites, such as Facebook, offer them. This recent national trend has been termed Law Enforcement 2.0. For instance, when police officers posted a surveillance video of previously unidentified persons engaging in vandalism at a hotel in Maine, responses from local Facebook members poured in, and led to an arrest in the case. Similarly, there was the case this past February, in which two men in Indiana torched a couch during their Superbowl celebration. They posted a picture to their Facebook profiles and the police were quickly informed of the online photograph. Police officers quickly apprehended the unsuspecting offenders based on the tip.

Facebook has also become a valuable tool in locating missing children. After one-year-old Madeline McCann went missing in 2007, her parents endorsed the introduction of the application Missing People. This Web tool serves as a forum for sharing information about missing people. Madeleine now has her own page on the site, where users can communicate directly with her parents and investigators about potential leads in her case. Users can also offer support to her loved ones. Additionally, the McCanns recently collaborated with Google and YouTube to launch dontyouforgetaboutme. The YouTube channel is, specifically, aimed at locating abducted children. The Websites have been important tools for victims' families, as well as the law enforcement community, in their enduring searches for missing people.

As long as we continue to practice Internet safety, Web networks like Facebook will continue to be important tools for law enforcement personnel in fighting crime. So hats off to you, Facebook users and YouTube junkies, for helping us “Take A Bite Out Of Crime®.”

Social Networking - The Good and Bad

According to the Center for Media Research, "Most parents in the United States estimate that their children spend about two hours a month on the Internet. In reality, kids and teens are spending upwards of 20 hours a month surfing the Web. Forty-one percent of U.S. teens claim their parents have no idea what they are looking at online. The most popular online activities are online dating (23 percent), social networking (50 percent), and playing games (72 percent)."

Facebook and MySpace, are two popular Internet sites used by children and adults that have become social getaways to chat, blog, post pictures, join groups, and make friends.

With a few clicks of the mouse, people can present their personal information and thoughts for anyone to see. What many people new to the Web do not realize is that there are risks involved and that they need to understand them before they post this kind of information. Teachers, employers, predators, and basically anyone who knows how to use the Internet can go online and find information about you. Ever done a Google search?

It is important to be aware of the risks of social networking in this cyber world we live in. It is important to remember not to post personal information, that no information is truly personal information, and anything you post and delete can still be found.

Sure, many social networks have an age verification required, but it is easy is it to go online and lie about one's identity. Law enforcement agencies now search these social outlets as a way to catch online predators. While realistically this is good, be aware that it is easy for anyone to steal your password, log in, and be you for a day. Understand, teach, protect. Do each of these to create a safe haven for you and your loved ones. The last thing you want to do is share information with the cyber world that you can't take back.

Think before you post.

Nowadays, Crime Prevention and Technology Are Often Interwoven

It didn’t take long for video images of the crash of the US Airways plane in the Hudson River to be available everywhere. The crash was recorded by a security camera, one of the most prevalent uses of technology in crime prevention. Moreover, a recent article in Parade magazine stated that Las Vegas was the best place in the country to have a heart attack, with a 67 percent survival rate. The remarkable rate was attributed to the vast amount of human and electronic security present in Las Vegas casinos and on Las Vegas streets. The Parade article also stated that the survival rate in Chicago, where there are no casinos, is just 2 percent. Technology has changed our world.

Police officers have been wearing soft body armor since the 1970s, when it was first developed and was seen as a great technological innovation at the time. The intent of the body armor is to protect police officers from deadly attacks. They accomplish the second goal of crime prevention: If you can’t prevent the crime, reduce the loss. Since the 1970s, body armor has saved the lives of more than 3,000 law enforcement officers. Research by the National Institute of Justice has found that an officer is 14 times more likely to survive a serious assault if he or she is wearing body armor. Unfortunately, many officers do not wear the body armor they are provided. According to the most recent law enforcement census conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, only 57 percent of the law enforcement agencies in the United States have a policy mandating that personnel wear body armor at all times while on duty. One very interesting statistic is that body armor has saved about 1,500 law enforcement officers in car accidents. So crime prevention in this instance is also a highway safety tool. And it is the result of technology.

Cell phones are a much underrated crime prevention tool. They provide instantaneous communication in dangerous situations, with photo and video features that allow users to record all types of incidents. Little has been done so far to measure the crime prevention impact of cell phones. A study is long overdue.

Are there more unrecognized crime prevention gains from other new technologies?

Campaigning Against College Campus Crime

Ignorance is bliss. Right? Maybe, but not when the topic is crime on your own college campus. And just now, as a seasoned college senior, I realize the extent to which campus crime remains underreported and unpublicized. College students, we have been hoodwinked!

Fortunately, this may be about to change. Spurred by violent incidents such as those at Virginia Tech, Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives have united to approve The National Center for Campus Public Safety. The bill, titled the Campus Safety Act of 2009, is pending Senate approval. The Senate Judiciary Committee has rigorously supported the proposed national initiative since receiving the bill earlier this month. The center will function to monitor campus security at the national level by conducting training programs and providing grants to campus law enforcement agencies. These grants will fund research into new strategies for guaranteeing student safety on our college campuses across the country.

It looks as if The National Center for Campus Public Safety has the potential to make our colleges safer, but we need to be active participants in the process. After all, we as students know our college campuses best: we live there! As students we can: communicate with our campus law enforcement and our faculty about methods for improving the security of our universities; become peer counselors and promote college crime victimization programs such as that of Security on Campus, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting campus safety; and above all, we should practice safe and responsible behavior in our own college communities and set an example for our fellow classmates. For general information concerning the prevention of violence on your campus, or for information on NCPC’s Campus Crime Prevention training please visit our website at www.ncpc.org.

P.O.S.S.E Keeps Kids Out of Gangs

A recent NCPC training conference call on gangs sponsored by the Community Capacity Development Office attempted to answer the question, "Why Do Kids Join Gangs?" Oscar (Ossco) Bolton, founder of a Kansas City, MO, gang prevention organization gave his insights and he should know: Bolton was a former gang leader and helped recruit scores of youth into his gang. Nowadays, Bolton uses his influence for good and works with thousands of youth annually in the Kansas City area and provides positive alternatives to gangs through his organization— P.O.S.S.E. (Peers Organized to Support Student Excellence). Since a drive-by shooting claimed the life of his 11-month old nephew in 1993, Bolton has made it his mission to save youth from lives of gang crime and to capitalize on the potential in all youth to become leaders and solid contributors to the community.

Bolton said that there are three factors that encourage youth participation in gangs: (1) a sense of familial acceptance and being part of something bigger than themselves, (2) survival and protection, and (3) financial gain. He said gang recruiters were successful because they spent time with the youth, "out talked" them and their positive adult figures, and, finally, became big brothers and father figures to the youth.

In his P.O.S.S.E. program, Mr. Bolton provides youth with a specific mission and ensures that they know that they are the agents of change. He begins by declaring to the youth that there is an emergency in their community and that they have to form a posse to become the agents of the changes that are needed. Training sessions on conflict resolution, communication, team building, decision making, life skills, and peer mentoring and service are the necessary components that make the program work. In the conference call, Mr. Bolton also underscored the importance of changing adult attitudes towards youth as well. When a teacher or other adult in a youth's life can begin to see the youth in a different, positive light, their attitude toward the young person and their expectations of him or her can change as well.

Bolton's program is open to boys and girls in Kansas City schools. For more information on gangs, search NCPC.org for "gang" to find helpful resources including Gang Fact Sheets for Youth and adults and educators.