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Hucklesby & Wahidin: Criminal Justice

Chapter 1

The internet has become an important source of information about crime prevention, and it has been used to establish an international marketplace for the exchange of ideas and initiatives. Most internet resources reflect the practical concerns of their host agencies and are oriented towards practitioners: thus, they are there to inform about good practice, to identify what works, and to promote the cause of crime prevention more generally. This does not mean that they are necessarily entirely uncritical, but we should not expect to find a lot of critical social scientific knowledge and understanding in their content. They are, nevertheless, useful sources of information for the development of such knowledge and understanding. Here are five web links that merit further exploration:

http://www.securedbydesign.com
This is a link to the police-led Secured by Design (SBD) scheme, which promotes the idea of designing out crime, particularly at the planning stage. Intellectually indebted to the work of Oscar Newman, the website contains a lot of practical information on the SBD scheme, and it offers an insight into the work of practitioners in this area of crime prevention.

http://www.crimeprevention.gov.au
This is a link to the Australian Government's national community crime prevention programme, a federally-funded initiative. From this website there are links to reports and evaluations of projects funded by the national programme, and there is also practical advice and guidance, targeted both at practitioners and at members of the public.

http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk
This is a link to the UK Government's crime reduction activities, hosted by the Home Office. It is a veritable mine of information that is generally well organised. Through the website one can access a number of important policy documents that seek to shape local practice. There is also a lot of good practice advice and guidance targeted at practitioners, as well as links to research reports, the conclusions of which have helped to shape such advice and guidance.

http://www.crime-prevention-intl.org/
This is a link to the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), established in the mid-1990s.  ICPC comprises a network of policy makers, practitioners, and academics, brought together by a common commitment to the United Nations' guidelines for the prevention of crime. There is a strong interest in the promotion of best practice, and the website is a good place from which to access a range of publications, many involving elements of comparative analysis. The website also hosts the proceedings of annual conferences, and there is a newsletter, the International Observer, which is a good source of information on contemporary developments.

http://www.urbansecurity.org
This is a link to the European Forum for Urban Safety (EFUS). EFUS comprises a network of over 300 European urban local authorities, all with a shared interest in what they call urban safety, which is broadly the same thing as community safety. The members are particularly interested in promoting the role of local authorities in the delivery of urban safety. Through the website one can access relevant policy documents of different European countries, some comparative studies, and advice and guidance themed by specific crime-related problems, such as youth crime, or the fear of crime.