CRIME PREVENTION IN ABORIGINAL …

1 CRIME PREVENTION IN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIESRick LindenUniversity of Manitoba2 The purpose of this report is to provide information to help the ABORIGINAL Justice InquiryImplementation Commission make recommendations concerning ways of reducingcrime rates in ABORIGINAL communities in Manitoba. Both the ABORIGINAL Justice Inquiryand the Implementation Commission have received ample evidence that CRIME rates arevery high in many ABORIGINAL communities and among ABORIGINAL people living outside ofthese communities .

2 Victimization among ABORIGINAL people is also disproportionatelyhigh. While there is evidence that this over-representation is partly due to systemicdiscrimination by the justice system, it is also clear that some ABORIGINAL communities dohave very high CRIME rates. The cost of this CRIME to communities , victims, andoffenders is so high that there must be more emphasis on first section of the report will provide a definition of CRIME PREVENTION and brieflydiscuss how programs should be planned and implemented.

3 The second section willprovide an analysis of what works in CRIME PREVENTION . Very little evaluation has beendone concerning CRIME PREVENTION in an ABORIGINAL context, so I will review currentknowledge of what works in the broader society as many of the lessons learned will alsoapply to ABORIGINAL communities . The third section will describe some of the morepromising CRIME PREVENTION programs that are being used within Aboriginalcommunities. It will also look at some of the issues involved in developing effectiveprograms in Manitoba and make some recommendations for the FOR CRIME PREVENTIONTHE NEED FOR CRIME PREVENTIONFor much of this century, citizens have placed the primary responsibility for crimeprevention in the hands of the formal system of criminal justice.

4 However, in recentyears the limitations of this approach have been recognized. Criminal justiceprofessionals, politicians, and members of the community have realized that the patroland investigative resources of the police are limited in preventing many types of crimeand that the courts and prisons also have only a small impact on CRIME rates. Becauseof this there has been a greater emphasis on CRIME PREVENTION programs that involveclose cooperation between those working in the criminal justice system, otherprofessionals, business people, and community direct costs of CRIME to the justice system are nearly $10 billion a year.

5 To this wecan add the financial costs of medical care, property loss, community decay, privatesecurity, and the human costs of the pain and suffering and psychological damageresulting from victimization. Because of high CRIME rates, the cost to Aboriginalcommunities is disproportionately high. There is ample evidence that a significantamount of this loss could be avoided if we made more of an effort to develop crimeprevention programs targeted at the most serious CRIME response to the need for a more effective approach to CRIME , the federal governmenthas advocated the safer communities approach to CRIME PREVENTION .

6 The 1993 Reportof the Standing Committee on Justice and the Solicitor General has stated the fourprinciples of this approach:*the community is the focal point of effective CRIME PREVENTION *the community needs to identify and respond to both short and longterm needs * CRIME PREVENTION efforts should bring together individuals from arange of sectors to tackle CRIME *strategies for preventing CRIME should be supported by the wholecommunityThe federal government responded to this report by establishing the National Strategyon CRIME PREVENTION and Community Safety.

7 A major part of the Strategy was thefunding of the National CRIME PREVENTION Centre which has supported hundreds ofcrime PREVENTION programs across the country. Part of the mandate of the Centre is tosupport community-based solutions to problems that contribute to the victimization ofAboriginal PROACTIVE NATURE OF CRIME PREVENTIONC rime PREVENTION , according to one commonly accepted definition, is "the anticipation,recognition and appraisal of a CRIME risk and the initiation of some action to reduce thatrisk" (National CRIME PREVENTION Institute, 1978:1-2).

8 This clearly indicates that crimeprevention techniques involve a proactive rather than a reactive response to CRIME andsafety. Proactive responses attempt to reduce the possibilities of criminal victimizationbefore it occurs rather than responding after the CRIME has taken BASIS OF CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMSEach criminal act is the product of two things - a motivated offender and a suitabletarget. To prevent CRIME the community can reduce the number of potential offendersor reduce the opportunities for CRIME by making targets less vulnerable.

9 Programsaimed at reducing the number of potential offenders by addressing the social andeconomic factors which cause CRIME are called social development programs. Theseinclude measures like early childhood education, parental skills training, and youthemployment. In contrast to these programs are those like Neighbourhood Watch,installing burglar alarms in cars, and engraving social insurance numbers on property,which are aimed at reducing opportunity by improving the guardianship of potentialcrime targets or by making these targets less CRIME PREVENTION do communities decide upon the best way to prevent CRIME ?

10 The answer to thisquestion depends upon the nature of a community's problems and on the human and4financial resources available to deal with these problems. People need the skills andresources to analyze their communities and their problems and to design, carry out,and evaluate programs that address the circumstances underlying these approach means that programs are tailored to each community's unique key to successful CRIME PREVENTION is planning. Planners must approach theircommunity's problems logically and systematically.