Q: I’m looking for recent information on crime prevention strategies that may have been influenced street crime. I've not had much luck so if you could help I would be very thankful.

A: Reading your question, it looks like you either want to know what crime prevention strategies have been influenced BY street crime or what crime prevention strategies HAVE influenced street crime. So, let's look at both...

As far as crime prevention strategies that have evolved FROM street crime:

1. Cell phones. More than one third of all cell phone users say they have purchased their phone primarily for "safety" reasons.
2. The rise of crime prevention and self-defense as an industry. The National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) estimates that there are now more than 250,000 martial arts schools in the country. NAPMA also predicts a spurt of interest in self-defense oriented systems (specifically they cite an Israeli style known as Krav Maga). Within the martial arts community there has been a huge rise in interest in "mixed martial arts" competitions stemming primarily because of their introduction from Brazil by Rorion Gracie in the early 1990s. The interest is driven mostly by the testing of practical applications of martial arts techniques in a "real" fight.
3. Increased interest in gun ownership. The National Rifle Association’s membership is at an all-time high (about 3.5 million members) and is growing. Other growing groups include the International Defensive Pistol Association. According to Paxton Quigley, the fastest growing segment of gun ownership is females.
4. Continued flight from the high-crime areas to the low-crime areas of the country. Check out Money magazine’s annual "Best Places to Live" issue. The crime index is a significant factor in the ranking of cities.
5. Faith Popcorn (yes, that’s her real name) charts trends and has identified one as "cocooning" which means more people are staying home and watching cable TV and shopping over the Internet. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is partly out of the fear of crime.
6. Explosion in the growth of private security guards, private investigators, home security systems, home video surveillance systems, gated communities, private or charter schools.
7. Have you noticed that most ATMs now have security cameras, mirrors and are well-lit and open? The older enclosed (in little vestibules) and out-of-the-way ATMs were havens for strong-armed robbers.
8. On an international note -- Sao Paulo, Brazil, has the world’s third largest private helicopter fleet. Businessmen fly directly from their homes to the office to avoid driving through crime infested neighborhoods. Carjacking in South Africa has become so prevalent that the police have an anti-carjacking unit which drives race-equiped BMWs. Citizens there have outfitted their cars with devices designed to discourage carjackers. I have seen photos of one device that acts as a flame-thrower, shooting flames sideways from underneath the car. I have seen photos of another car equipped with a device that can detonate several 12 gauge shotgun shells from the driver’s door.


From the standpoint of prevention strategies and tactics that may have influenced the type or the amount of street crime:

1. A gigantic market in stolen cars and parts led to skyrocketing auto thefts in the 80s. The insurance industry, car manufacturers and car owner fought back by installing more sophisticated anti-theft devices. The result? Carjackings became a new phenomenon as criminals simply began taking cars from drivers at gas stations and red lights.
2. More than 30 states now have concealed weapon carry permits available for citizens. According to Professor John Lott, the armed citizen has a huge positive influence on street crime. In states that have issued the permits, it is reported that violent crime generally falls somewhere in the 20% range. Conversely, those cities and states with the tightest concealed weapon laws are those with the highest crime rates. Another interesting example is England. Traditionally, violent crime there is very low (although I can tell you from personal experience thievery is rampant). Following a near total ban on firearms in the country, the violent crime rate has jumped 16%. Apparently, the same situation is occurring in Australia, another country with a total ban on most firearms. I have seen reported another huge jump in violent crime there (in Australia) with many victims being the elderly (the ones least able to defend themselves). I hear home invasions are getting big there. The moral of the story here is that criminals will prey on the weak with impunity.
3. Increased incarceration of drug offenders is generally acknowledged to have decreased the rate of crime in this country. It is not necessarily because doing drugs is a violent activity, it is because a large number of crimes are committed when people are under the influence of drugs. According to the NYPD, 40% of all crimes are committed by people under the influence. My experience has shown that about 75% of the people you have to fight or arrest are under the influence.
4. New York, New Orleans and some other cities have been making a good dent in their crime rate by charting where and when crimes are occurring. Then, the police departments are assigning officers to those areas during the high crime times. In the New York Police Department they call it "putting cops on dots". I guess they didn’t have any dots put on Central Park during the Central Park Wolf Pack Attacks…