Community Crime Watch in New Jersey Research Paper

Community Crime Watch in New Jersey - Research Paper Example According to this research, there are opportunities to improve security in the entire community if the recommendations are implemented to the letter. My vision is for a community where people can go about their businesses without fear of being gagged. To achieve this vision, a number of initiatives to address the current community problems have been proposed in my final report. These initiatives are based on wide-ranging consultations with community members, law enforcement agencies and the relevant government officials. I believe New Jersey would be one of the most progressive and secure places in the country. Once again, am thankful for the opportunity to be part of the solution to the problem regarded highly in the community. Warm regards, Xxxxx(Sign) xxxxxxxxx (Name) Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Neighborhood Watch Programs 4 How Neighborhood Watch Works 5 Systematic Review of Neighborhood Watch in Practice 7 Concluding Recommendations 8 References 11 Execu tive Summary I was appointed and mandate to review the current security situation in New Jersey, identify the gaps for improvements, identify best practices, consult with the community members, and develop recommendations to arrest the current security menace in this area. This report has engendered the opinions of a diverse group of people including community action groups and the security agencies in New Jersey. It contains the Neighborhood Watch Programs samples, how they work, a review of successful stories, and the recommendations intended to inform better decisions leading to a secure New Jersey by changing the prevailing attitudes toward security agencies as well as adopting proven best practices in Neighborhood Crime Watch programs. Introduction The criminal justice system has saved the community for centuries by using a very simple logic to ensure a secure neighborhood: taking the "criminals" away and putting them behind bars away from the rest of the population. It evident within the current functioning of the justice system that many loopholes exist that has led to the worsening of security apparatus in place. As it was done then, the aforementioned method can still work. However, the dynamics within which the old system worked is totally different from the current situational analysis, and a new approach to institute tighter security is urgently required, particularly in New Jersey. Neighborhood Watch Programs The term â€Å"Neighborhood Watch† surfaced out of a movement promoting the involvement of the people towards crime prevention in the United States (Titus, 1984). It is often â€Å"three pronged† package that not only entails Neighborhood Watch but also property-marking and survey of homes concerning how secure they are (Titus, 1984). Variations encompass block watch, home watch, apartment watch, community watch and the general alertness of the citizenry. Specifically, some of these programs include elements of recruitments for special, regular foot patrols that involve the selected citizens as well as and educational programs, auxiliary police patrol units, and services for victims affected in one way or the other. Neighborhood Watch operates mainly by residents being on the look out for suspicious incidents and reporting them to the police once spotted. It is one of the potential deterrence measures that prevent possible offenders from committing criminal activities (Bennett 1990). One of the first Neighborhood Watch programs was the Seattle Community Crime Prevention