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Does neighborhood watch programs really work in ensuring that crimes are not committed in an area? The main objective of these neighborhood watch programs were intended for the involvement of the neighbors of a certain community help prevent the possibilities of crimes being committed in the area. The programs tend to be fruitful in ensuring that the incidences of crime are dealt with if the neighbors are corporative. The essay that follows intends to look at the effectiveness of neighborhood watch programs and the theories that support these programs. Since neighborhood crimes pose a danger to the safety and security of residential homes, it becomes necessary for people to device ways in which the crimes can be reduced so that they can live in a safe neighborhood. The essay will thus include a brief explanation of the design I intend to take while addressing the issue followed by a selection of a criminological theory that supports the watch programs.
A neighborhood watch program most of the times consists of an inclusive set of packages that includes a neighborhood watch coupled with the presence of home security precautions and making boundaries to mark property. There are other modifications that could be made to ensure continued security such as the presence of recruitment drives that are conducted by special constables, an inclusion of foot work patrols by the polices and some times the residents themselves. Educating youths in the suburb about the detection of possible crimes is also an effective method and other services such as victim support.
A small suburb that is located in a big metropolitan area has opted for the neighborhood watch program as a way of ensuring that security is enhanced in the suburb. As a result, the mayor wants to find out whether the program has had any effect on the numbers of complaints being received concerning suspicious behaviors that may have been seen or those of deviant behavior and any incidences of crime. He has asked me to determine whether the program has had any of the mentioned effects in the neighborhood. To carry out the investigation I have to determine a survey design that will enable me to reach efficient conclusions that will give reasonable information to the mayor. During the research, I went from door to door or even asked questions on the street. From the research, I found that most of the residents of the small suburb had found that the neighborhood watch program had brought certain benefits to the safety of the suburb. The residents were generally delighted with the results that the program has had on the neighborhood. They attested to the fact that there were reduced incidences of complaints that are being reported by the residents about suspicious or deviant conduct or those of prevalent crimes. At the beginning of the program, complaints being raised by the residents at the police offices were quite high. The police had been having many incidences of reports from people raising concern about people with suspicious conduct in the area and several reported cases of deviant behaviors and small crimes such as prowlers and burglars. The presence of a service that supports victims of crimes in the area also plays a significant role in the lives of the residents and of the neighborhood watch program (Shuttleworth 2008).
After a period of consistent reports being made and the police carrying out investigations, few people were found guilty and put into custody. This created fear and the crimes gradually reduced such that few cases are currently being reported. All data I collected from conducting face-to-face interviews with the residents of there suburb. Though the method was somewhat time consuming, it enabled me to get detailed information both from the police and the residents themselves. I choose this research design due to the fact that it will enable me to have first hand information and at the same time get accurate information that would prove to be useful o the kind of information that the mayor had requested me to find out since I had a chance of asking direct questions.
The method also favored the research that I was doing since I already had an official identification note that was provided by the mayor. This made it easy for me to gather information from the residents since they willingly provided information that was readily handy. The added advantage that all these information will go back to the mayor made them open up and at the same time, they offered suggestions that they wanted me to present to the mayor since the collected data was to be presented to him. Another factor that favored this research design is that there was no possibility that there would be embarrassing information that would make the interviewees reluctant in providing the required information. To the contrary, they were quite responsive and at the end of the research, I had gained an adequate amount of relevant information that I would otherwise not have acquired if I had employed the other methods of data collection (Shuttleworth 2008).
There are various theories that are in support of the neighborhood watch program and one of these is the routine activity theory. Marcus Felson created the routine activity theory that states, that crime is normal and depends on the opportunities available. If a target is not protected enough, and if the reward is worth it, crime will happen. Crime does not need hardened offenders, super-predators, convicted felons or wicked people. Crime just needs an opportunity (Marcus, 1994, p. 24). The theory is created based on the fact that most crimes are incidences of theft that go unreported to the police. It formed on the premise that in most cases crime is neither spectacular nor remarkable; on the contrary, it is commonplace and occurs almost all the time. Another ground on which the theory is made is that for the most part crimes are rarely affected by social causes for example poverty, discrimination or incidences of unemployment. What Felson considers is that the more prosperous the contemporary society becomes, the greater opportunities people get to commit crimes that is, and prosperity creates a variety of things from which people can steal. The theory is employed during the analysis of crimes and during crime prevention efforts. The theory was developed on a different basis as compared to those that had been created before it. This is because it does not consider the motivation behind crime committed instead it is focuses on the convergence of convenient circumstances at particular locations and moment in time which provide an atmosphere that is both encouraging and motivating in committing a crime (Felson 1994).
The theory brings out the realization that in order for a crime to occur, three items have to play without even the premeditation of a crime. These three items include, an offender who has been motivated coupled with the presence of appropriate targets and the nonattendance of competent guardian who can prevent the occurrence of this crime. If it happens that in a particular setting one of these three items appears to be lacking, then the crime would not be committed since either no motivation to commit the crime or a capable guardian could be around to prevent the occurrence of the incidence. Consequently, the absence of targets would ultimately render a crime useless since a crime cannot be committed in the absence of one of the above-mentioned items.
This is exactly what is used in neighborhood watch programs. The presence of the neighborhood watch programs is supported by the theory. This is because, if the residents of a particular agree to have a watch program, then at least two of the items that support the occurrence of a crime would be eliminated. One of the factors that would be eliminated by the presence of a neighborhood watch program is the presence of a capable guardian who would help to prevent the occurrence of a crime. In such a program, the police offer enough capable guardianship, which would deter any motivated individual from committing a crime. If the police alone do not accomplish this, then the neighbors themselves can achieve this by patrolling themselves and ensuring that there are capable people in the neighborhood who can be able to prevent the occurrence of a crime (Felson 1994).
The neighborhood watch program is also supported by the routine activity theory because once a watch program is initiated in a neighborhood, it means that the neighbors are aware of the possibilities of vandalism and burglary in the area and the presence of prowlers who are likely to break into homes and cause big or small damages. The neighbors would therefore be on the look out and this would reduce the numbers of targets because most people would be observant of the possibilities of such incidences. The residents would also result to safety measures such as the installation of security systems that would alert them to such dangers. This would greatly reduce the incidences of crimes. This is something that is clearly brought out in the routine activity theory as it acknowledges the fact that a target has to be present so that a crime can be committed. Therefore, targets would be reduced if a neighborhood watch program were introduced in an area.
Considering the fact that there is reduction of potential targets and the presence of capable guardians, then it is less likely that an individual would be motivated to commit a certain crime. This is due to the fact that there is no target for the crime to materialize and even if the target is present then the presence of a capable guardian hinders the individual from committing the crime even if there was a motivation to commit the crime.
In most cases of crimes committed, the offender has to first identify an appropriate target before committing the crime. However, in such a situation, the existence or lack of a guardian would be a determining factor that will help to determine whether the crime would be committed or not. That is within a neighborhood watch program, it is highly recommendable that there is a guardian who is present because this greatly contributes to whether a motivated offender will act upon his impulse on a target or not. It is obvious that the society is dependent on the presence of law enforcement personnels and that of security guards but people also fail to notice that even a neighbor can provide enough guardianship to a fellow neighbors property. In such a case an offender might target a certain house butt the presence of a neighbor might deter them from committing the crime since the neighbor might report the incident. This is enough guardianship though the only difference between such a guardianship and that of law enforcement personnel is the capabilities that these two guardians have. Either way the two will still manage to prevent the occurrence of a crime, which is what a neighborhood watch program entails. This serves to show that a capable guardian does not necessarily have to be a security guard or a law enforcer. Nonetheless, things such as video cameras that can capture a scene and burglar alarms, which provide enough risk of exposure to a crime committed, can be enough to provide guardianship though the capability that these two have with a security guard is different. These are the kind of things that should be used in neighborhood watch programs to prevent the occurrence of crimes by eliminating all the three items that can leave people vulnerable to crimes. The neighborhood watch programs can eliminate potential targets, provide guardians with varying capabilities and ultimately motivated individuals would lack the opportunity to commit any crimes intended.
It is therefore likely that the presence of one of the components can eliminate the chances of crimes committed. Another likelihood is that neighborhood watch programs could be effective if the routine activity theory is applied in solving cases rather than looking at how punishment can be enforced on the perpetrators of the crime. A good demonstration of the above hypothesis is in particular residential area, there were continued reports of vandalism and burglaries, which caused the residents to raise questions and reports to the police department. Investigation into the matter showed that a good number of these crimes were committed during working days when nobody was likely to be at home. It also showed that either young people who were in school or those who had just left school committed most of the crimes. Most of these homes lacked security systems and since the burglaries were committed during working days, then nobody was likely to be at home. They deduced that installation of security systems would reduce the incidences of thefts and indeed this was the case when a couple of houses were fitted with video cameras. This meant that there were reduced targets and a form of guardian was present. The youths were also put in programs to keep them busy so that they could not be idle and result to such hideous crimes.
It is clear that the neighborhood watch program is a good method of ensuring that there are reduced incidences of crimes committed in an area. The routine activity theory also provides help in addressing the crime problems. It also makes available ways of finding solutions to possible crimes and how these crimes can be prevented in future.
Reference List
Felson, M. (1994). Crime and Everyday Life. Insight and Implications for Society, Thousands Oaks : Pine Forge Press
Shuttleworth, M. (2008). Survey Research Design. Web.
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