ENDANGERMENT OF THE ELDERLY BY CRIME AND SOCIAL RESPONSE BASED ON COMMUNITY POLICING CONCEPT

According to the average age of the population, Serbia is one of the oldest countries in the world, which results in increasing problems characteristic for the elderly population.One of them is the endangerment of the elderly by crime. In practice, not enough attention is paid to this issue, nor it is recognized as special and urgent, although due to the current number, and especially growing elderly population, their security problems will be greater and more present in society. Considering that elderly people a particularly vulnerable and discriminated category of the population, it is necessary to devise an adequate safety policy and establish an appropriate system of their protection. Community policing is recognized as a model of policing that can meet these requirements and adapt to the security needs of the elderly. This is because this concept is based on partnership with citizens and problem-oriented work. The police shouldbe open to community representatives pointing out their needs and highlighting security priorities, and the police can identify problems with them and initiate mechanisms for joint action. Community policing is proactive policing in which formal and informal social control are mutually reinforcing one another.The paper presents the most significant findings on endangerment by crime of the elderly aged 60 and over in the city of Belgrade from 2015 to 2019., in terms of: types of criminal offences, time, place, perpetrators and means of execution, as well as injured parties by gender. Also, the paper will show the organizational, functional and other advantages of community policing concept in relation to the traditional way of policing and try to answer whether its implementation can improve the safety of the elderly or adjust its operation to the security needs of this population

27. Crime control

This chapter reflects on the crime control approach. Criminologists and criminal justice practitioners who adopt this standpoint accept that crime is inevitable; but they are also committed to minimising its effects, either by restricting opportunities to offend or by acting decisively where crimes are committed. Crime control and retributive interventions may well coincide, despite their differing motivations, for example in the case of imprisonment. But crime control also extends well beyond deterrent sanctions to include other measures geared towards the assessment and management of potential risks, target hardening, proactive policing, offender surveillance, and restrictions. The chapter then looks at the role of the police in crime control including zero tolerance, intelligence-led policing, and community policing as well as the role of other agencies, such as architects, the community, private security providers, and the judiciary. It considers how predictive tools might be used to minimise the risk of reoffending and assesses some of the impacts and outcomes of crime control strategies.

Explaining the Recent Homicide Spikes in U.S. Cities

Recently, major cities across the country have suffered dramatic spikes in homicides. These sudden spikes are remarkably large and widespread. At this rate, 2020 will easily be the deadliest year in America for gun-related homicides since at least 1999, while most other major crime categories are trending stable or slightly downward. This article attempts to explain why so many cities have seen extraordinary increases in murder during the summer of 2020. A close analysis of the emerging crime patterns suggests that American cities may be witnessing significant declines in some forms of policing, which in turn are producing the homicide spikes. Crime rates are increasing only for a few specific categories—namely homicides and shootings. These crime categories are particularly responsive to reductions in proactive policing. The data also pinpoint the timing of the spikes to late May 2020, which corresponds with the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis and subsequent antipolice protests—protests that likely led to declines in law enforcement. The thesis of this article is that the recent spikes in homicides have been caused by a “Minneapolis Effect,” similar to the earlier “Ferguson Effect.” Specifically, law enforcement agencies have been forced to divert resources from normal policing to patrolling demonstrations. And even as the antipolice protests have abated, police officers have scaled back on proactive or officer-initiated law enforcement, such as street stops and other forms of policing designed to prevent firearm crimes. If this thesis is correct, it is reasonable to estimate that, as a result of de-policing during June and July 2020, approximately 710 additional victims were murdered and more than 2,800 victims were shot. Of course, this estimate relies on various assumptions, and further research on the issues surrounding the homicide spikes should be an urgent priority. If this article’s thesis about a Minneapolis Effect is correct, an important implication is that policy makers in major cities should proceed cautiously before taking steps to “defund” the police in ways that might reduce the proactive policing that is important in preventing gun violence.

Proactive policing in the United States: a national survey

PurposeTo measure the practice and management of proactive policing in local American police agencies and assess them in comparison to recommendations of the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Proactive Policing.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with a national sample of American police agencies having 100 or more sworn officers to obtain detailed information about the types of proactive work that officers engage in, to quantify their proactive work and to understand how the agencies measure and manage those activities. Responding agencies (n = 180) were geographically diverse and served populations of approximately half a million persons on average.FindingsProactivity as practiced is much more limited in scope than what the NAS envisions. Most agencies track only a few forms of proactivity and cannot readily estimate how much uncommitted time officers have available for proactive work. Measured proactivity is mostly limited to traffic stops, business and property checks and some form of directed or general preventive patrol. Many agencies have no formal policy in place to define or guide proactive activities, nor do they evaluate officer performance on proactivity with a detailed and deliberate rubric.Originality/valueThis is the first national survey that attempts to quantify proactive policing as practiced broadly in the United States. It provides context to the NAS recommendations and provides knowledge about the gap between practice and those recommendations.