Social Crime Prevention in the Developing World ― Exploring the Role of Police in Crime Prevention

This Brief explores the role of social crime prevention as a crime reduction strategy in the developing world. "Social crime prevention" focuses on the social and economic factors that may contribute to violence and criminal behavior in a community. Particularly in the developing world, an understanding of the socioeconomic and political context holds long-term potential for crime reduction (rather than crime displacement); however, the strategies are complex and the results may be slow. Generally, police and law enforcement are relied upon to present quick results, where social crime prevention strategies can be viewed as being "soft on crime" or too slow. This Brief discusses the tension between the traditional role of police and proactive social crime prevention strategies in an international context, through a variety of case studies. It also provides recommendations for balancing or reshaping this role. This work will be of interest to researchers and policy makers interested in crime prevention, particularly in the developing world, criminal theory, police studies, and related disciplines such as demography, sociology and political science.

Heath Grant has a PhD in Criminal Justice from City University of New York. He is assistant professor in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has acted as the Director of Research at Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), an organization dedicated to improving policing and advancing professionalism through research and involvement in public policy and debate. He has also served as CEO, Global Education and Outreach of Success for Kids, an international organization dedicated to fostering youth resiliency and currently serves as Associate Director of the National Strategy Information Center's Culture of Lawfulness Project, an NGO based in Washington, DC. As part of the project, he developed curricula now reaching over a million children throughout Latin America.