Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500, 1400 Vienna, Austria Tel: (+43-1) 26060-0, Fax: (+43-1) 26060-5866, www.unodc.org Handbook on the crime prevention guidelines Making them work United Nations publication USD 30 Printed in Austria ISBN 978-92-1-130300-1 Sales No. E.10.IV.9 CRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIES *1052410* V.10-52410—August 2010—550 Cover photograph centre: © Emily Chastain UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna Handbook on the Crime Prevention Guidelines Making them work CRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIES UNITED NATIONS New York, 2010 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. E.10.IV.9 ISBN 978-92-1-130300-1 © United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, August 2010. All rights reserved. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Information on uniform resource locators and links to Internet sites contained in the present publication are provided for the convenience of the reader and are correct at the time of issue. The United Nations takes no responsibility for the continued accuracy of that information or for the content of any external website. Publishing production: English, Publishing and Library Section, United Nations Office at Vienna. Acknowledgements The Handbook on the Crime Prevention Guidelines: making them work was prepared for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) by Margaret Shaw, Director of Analysis and Exchange at the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, Montreal, Canada. It drew on the concept outline developed by Valerie Sagant, Director General and Vivien Carli, Analyst at the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime. The Handbook was reviewed by expert group meetings held at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Berlin, from 2 to 4 July 2008 and in Montreal on 26 June 2009. UNODC wishes to acknowledge the valuable contributions of Kauko Aromaa, Alioune Badiane, Rosemary Barbaret, Claudio Beato, Oscar Bonilla, Elias Carranza, Benoit Dupont, Barbara Holtmann, Peter Homel, Mary-Anne Kirvan, Erich Marks, Albert Alvarado Mendoza, Laura Petrella, Valerie Sagant, Benjamin Santa Maria, Masamba Sita, Cindy Smith, Elrena Van der Spuy and Jennifer Wood. The following UNODC staff also contributed to the development of the report: Estela-Maris Deon, Slawomir Redo, Anna Giudice Saget and Oliver Stolpe, as well as Julien Piednoire (intern). The International Centre for the Prevention of Crime gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada for the development of the Handbook. UNODC also gratefully acknowledges the funding provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada for the printing and dissemination of the Handbook and its translation into French, Portuguese and Spanish. iii Contents Introduction . 1 A. Introduction to the Handbook. 1 B. Target audiences of the Handbook . 3 C. The importance of context in crime prevention: high-, medium- or low-income countries. 4 D. Donor aid, effectiveness and sustainability. 5 E. Extensive experience. 7 I . Crime prevention: an introduction . 9 A. Crime prevention concepts. 9 B. Collective approaches to crime prevention and the important role of Governments. 18 C. The basic principles underlying the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime. 22 D. International support for the guidelines on crime prevention adopted by the United Nations. 24 E. Putting the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime into practice: key components for developing comprehensive and effective prevention strategies. 27 II . The key role of Governments . 29 A. Crime prevention as a permanent feature of government. 29 B. A permanent central authority. 30 C. A plan with clear priorities and targets. 33 D. Multisector coordination and partnerships. 34 E. Public education and the media. 37 F. Sustainability and accountability of programmes. 39 G. Training and capacity-building for Governments and other bodies. 41 III . Knowledge-based crime prevention . 47 A. The foundation of proactive and effective prevention. 47 B. Extensive and inclusive knowledge. 48 C. Types of knowledge required. 50 D. Developing evidence-based knowledge . 54 E. Data sources and tools for implementing a knowledge-based approach. 55 v IV . Planning, monitoring and evaluation . 63 A. The planning process. 63 B. Linking transnational organized crime and national and local strategies. 65 C. Planning and implementing national policies. 67 D. Planning at the local government level . 71 E. Implementation and evaluation . 78 V . A multidisciplinary approach and working in partnerships . 87 A. Partnerships: a challenging but important component. 87 B. A key partner: the police. 91 C. Some key partners: the urban planning and environment sectors. 98 D. Some key partners: the justice sector and reintegration services. 99 VI . Working with communities and civil society . 103 A. Improvements resulting from crime prevention . 103 B. Mobilization of civil society. 104 C. The contribution of non-governmental organizations. 106 D. Private sector involvement . 108 VII . Conclusion . 113 vi Introduction A . Introduction to the Handbook All countries experience crime, violence and victimization. This may lead to some of the following situations: countries with high proportions of young men who are killed before they become adults; societies with families who lose a parent or have members in prison, who are living in poverty and without access to support or legitimate sources of income; neighbourhoods experiencing gang wars or where there seems to be little public protection and security; women who are subjected to violence in their homes, or who are at risk of sexual assault in public spaces; neighbourhoods where levels of crime and insecurity have led businesses and families to cut themselves off from other citizens and public life behind gates and using private security; and migrants and minority groups living in dilapidated and isolated areas or informal settlements and subject to racial harassment and victimization. All countries strive to ensure safety and security for their citizens and to increase the quality of their lives. The guidelines on crime prevention developed by the United Nations incorporate and build on years of experience and experiments in responding to these problems. Such experience has shown that countries can build safer communities using practical, concrete approaches that are very different from, and less costly than repressive and deterrent reactions and responses. The present Handbook is one of a series of practical tools developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to support countries in the implementation of the standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. These standards and norms support the rule of law, human rights and a culture of lawfulness through the development of crime prevention and criminal justice reform. The Handbook can be used in a variety of contexts, including as part of UNODC technical assistance and capacity-building projects, whether as a reference document or a training tool. A number of companion projects already exist, 1 2 HANDBOOK ON CRIME PREvENTION GUIDELINES: MAKING THEM wORK INTRODUCTION including the Crime Prevention Assessment Tool,1 and the Handbook on Planning and Action for Crime Prevention in Southern Africa and the Caribbean Regions.2 The Handbook offers a concise overview of the main considerations to be taken into account in planning and implementing crime prevention strategies and interventions. It also recognizes that there are some major differences between regions and countries in terms of the challenges posed by crime and victimization and the importance of adapting programmes to local contexts. The main emphasis is on how crime prevention strategies based on the guidelines developed by the United Nations can be entrenched and sustained over time. Two sets of crime prevention guidelines have been adopted by the Economic and Social Council, in 1995 and 2002. They are the Guidelines for Cooperation and Technical Assistance in the Field of Urban Crime Prevention (Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/9, annex), and the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime (Council resolution 2002/13, annex). Together with more recent resolutions, they stress that crime prevention strategies must be established alongside criminal justice reform. In 2002, for example, the General Assembly, in its resolution 56/261, invited States, inter alia, to support the promotion of close cooperation between sectors such as justice, health, education and housing to support effective crime prevention and work with civil society. In its resolution 2005/22, a resolution of the Economic and Social Council requested UNODC to pay due attention to crime prevention with a view to achieving a balanced approach between crime prevention and criminal justice responses. Given the increasing concentration of crime and victimization in cities, the Guidelines for Cooperation and Technical Assistance in the Field of Urban Crime Prevention focus on how to design and implement crime prevention in urban areas. They recommend that cooperation projects for urban crime prevention be based on a local approach to crime problems and the use of an integrated crime prevention action plan that should be based on a