Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

Urban crime and violence: Policy responses
99
unacceptable levels of crime and violence in the city, and
public and community action in some or all parts of those
cities designed to tackle these problems.
■ Community involvement in Toronto,
Canada
A good example of a city where several different forms of
community involvement exist in its approaches to crime
prevention and safety is the city of Toronto (Canada). 57
Toronto is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse cities,
with people from over 200 nations who speak more than
100 languages. As such, it epitomizes the point that
‘community’ means very many different things when looking
at large cities. One of the most striking elements of the 2004
Toronto Community Safety Plan 2004 58 is the emphasis on
crime prevention through social development. This is the
idea that spatially targeted or area-based interventions are
necessary to tackle the particular problems of specific neighbourhoods.
The approach recognizes the different social and
structural factors at work in each of these neighbourhoods,
and programmes seek to build on the strengths of the neighbourhoods.
At the time that the Toronto case study for this <strong>Global</strong>
<strong>Report</strong> was being drafted in 2006, 13 ‘at-risk’ neighbourhoods
59 had been identified both for preparing crime
prevention programmes and for securing the resources to
support them. The approach adopted in each of these areas
was to develop a Neighbourhood Action Plan through
partnership between the city council, residents, community
leaders, the police and relevant local agencies. The intention
behind this process is that the interventions that are considered
to be appropriate in each case should build the local
community’s capacity to improve safety and to prevent
crime, especially violent crime. Examples of these initiatives
are summarized in Box 4.7.
Although this approach appears to have considerable
potential to reduce crime, it is too early in the life of this
initiative to offer much by way of evaluation. But three
elements stand out: its wide-ranging and imaginative nature;
the various ways in which local communities are directly
involved in programme delivery; and the targeted nature of
what is being attempted. This set of activities also illustrates
the point made earlier about not seeing initiatives as if they
are in tightly sealed compartments because the examples in
Box 4.7 illustrate a range of ways in which communities can
get involved and could also be seen as illustrating initiatives
on reduction of risk (particularly the emphasis on activities
to keep youth away from crime) and strengthening of social
capital.
Classical response to crime and violence:
Strengthening formal criminal justice
systems and policing
Strengthening formal criminal justice systems and policing
could be seen as the classical response to problems of crime
and violence. This is because the criminal justice systems
and policing were seen to be the main societal tools
designed to address this issue before the broadening of the
response agenda in recent years. However, criminal justice
and police systems are often perceived by the public at large
as being part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
Many people would like to be in the position of being able to
engage in discussions with their local police force about
crime prevention initiatives in their areas, but feel unable to
do so because either they do not trust the police or they feel
that there are protective links between the police and criminal
groups. 60
The case of Diadema discussed earlier contains
elements of this in the days when its streets were characterized
by lawlessness. One of the issues that this initiative had
to tackle was the need to develop more positive relations
between the police and the local communities. 61 In this
case, improvements to policing, in particular through the
efforts of a charismatic senior police officer (who himself
was subsequently murdered), were very important in securing
the success of the initiative to close bars in the city much
earlier than previously. Therefore, improving the performance
of these ‘classical’ services that tackle crime and
violence has an important part to play; in particular, actions
to tackle corruption are central to efforts to improve the
confidence that communities have in these services. This
requires implementation of initiatives that improve the
ability of the police to respond to community needs and
priorities and the ability of those communities to participate
in prevention efforts. It is difficult to imagine measures to
tackle crime and violence being successful if they have to try
to bypass criminal justice and police systems, even where
they are seen as uncooperative or operating in ways that
support criminal activities. 62
■ Changing approaches to policing in
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong case study undertaken for this report 63
suggests that changes in styles and processes of policing
since the 1960s appear to have been an important factor in
the achievement and maintenance of Hong Kong’s low crime
rates. The essential change here has been a move away from
a traditional ‘command-and-control’ approach and towards
the evolution of a more community-based approach to policing.
The various stages of this process are summarized in Box
4.8.
This story of a change process over a protracted
period of time illustrates the point that significant adaptations
to complex structures such as police forces are unlikely
to be accomplished quickly, partly because there is likely to
be intense debate about what the right steps are in the
particular circumstances and partly because the task of
‘winning the hearts and minds’ of all the staff members
involved is a large one. Nevertheless, it is of fundamental
importance that changes of this nature can and do happen if
police forces are to play their full part in the fight against
crime and violence.
■ Guardianship approaches in New York
City’s Bryant Park
One related type of initiative that seems to be becoming
more common, and can work well in appropriate circum-
Criminal justice and
police systems are
often perceived by
the public at large as
being part of the
problem rather than
part of the solution
It is difficult to
imagine measures to
tackle crime and
violence being
successful if they
have to try to bypass
criminal justice and
police systems