Crime Prevention Plan For Drug Related Concerns In Liverpool
Question
Task: Students are required to write a 2000-word crime prevention plan advising the Liverpool Council to deal with drug-related offences and drug using problems in Liverpool.
Answer
PART 1: Introduction
The qualitative information regarding the risks of property and commercial crimes by the drug users in Liverpool has been gathered and recorded by NSW. The fundamental issue identified within this crime prevention plan is considered as the higher appearance of drug-addicted people across Liverpool. According to the assembled qualitative information, it has been disclosed that the drugs users are creating a big issue such as breaking into the commercial and residential spots. The drug-addicted people are simply engaged in breaking the houses and stealing the stuff while they are experiencing a money shortage. Secondly, the drug users across Liverpool are aimlessly roaming here and there and even in the stores and shops and scared away the customers. Their weird personality and behavior always spread worries among the community and they feel unsafe also (Cassar, 2020). Thirdly, the rapid emergence and increase of the number of drug users have generated fearful attitudes among the parents regarding their children's safety. During the qualitative information gathering process, it has been disclosed that the drug users often asked for spare changes from the women youths. As a result, women's safety is in a questioning position in recent times across Liverpool. Fourthly, the qualitative data collected from the shopkeepers revealed that the drug users hanged around in front of the stores and also entered into the shops to make the existing customers fearful without buying anything. In most of the places across Liverpool was in the absence of adequate lighting (Brownfield, 2018). As a result, the majority of the drug users selected that spot to inject drugs at night and leave needles here and there. One of the shopkeepers also revealed that the presence of needles improperly can generate the risk of sitting on those used needles without knowing.
Fifthly, it has been also outlined from the qualitative data collection process regarding the crime scope and rate across Liverpool is that some regions of the spot are completely silent, less vibrant, and absent of any amenities or shops. As a result, the nearby residential people simply ignore the spot for hangouts with families or friends. The people just drive straightway to reach the home by spending extremely little time through this silent route. With the absence of police petrol and CCTV, the spot has been eventually possessed by drug-addicted people to commit crimes for the Liverpool community. In order to get money for purchasing drugs, the drug takers sometimes sneak into the residential spot and steal expensive materials from home (Lee et al., 2020). The report as per the Council of Liverpool has outlined that the drug-addicted people sneaked into the residential unit through the backyard door or window and stole the computer during her shower taking time. Lastly, the qualitative data regarding the drug-relevant crime also disclosed that some teenagers were sniffing near the mall of Liverpool and approaching, convincing, or selling high-powered drugs to the visitors of the mall and passengers of the station. One of the residents reported that the teen group was visible near the Liverpool Mall and they approached the individual to take drugs with a free trial. They fearlessly approach and sold the drug-relevant stuff as zero police supervision was visible in this sensitive matter.
PART 2: Recommendations
With the acceptance of the “Routine Activity Theory”, the criminal scopes and opportunities cannot be spread across the community. The prime concept of the theory is that the crime can be committed in case three stimulating factors such as motivated offender, appropriate target, and non-existence of a capable guardian (de Melo et al., 2018). Through the implication of these theoretical ideologies, the original rationale behind the commitment to crime can be identified so that the resolution process can be easily pointed out for easy overcoming. The ideologies of the theory have been aligned with the identified recommended tactics to overcome the committed crimes by the drug-addicted people across Liverpool.
Figure 1: Concept of Routine Activity theory
(Source: Kigerl, 2021)
- Crime prevention approaches
In order to minimize the crime rate from Liverpool City, the following tactics are recommended,
Police patrolling: Through the acceptance of this concept, the crime rate and the rapid emergence rate of the drug-addicted people across the silent, dark, and less vibrant areas in Liverpool City. The strategy also involves the prevention of breaking into the house, stealing important materials from the apartment, and sniffing from the backyard of the residential houses (Weisburd, 2021). Simultaneously, the police patrolling on a rotational basis also ensures the arrest of the drug users in case of committing crimes, pickpocketing, hanging aimlessly at the nearby shops, or knife attack towards the community.
Installation of CCTV: In order to reduce the crime rate by drug users across Liverpool City, the UK Government can invest in the CCTV installation project with the assistance of NSW. The prime purpose of this project is to install CCTV in the silent and dark areas across Liverpool to avoid the rapid increase of drug users for crime prevention (Piroozfaret al., 2019). Simultaneously, the Government has to strictly order the shopkeepers and malls of that region to install CCTV to collect crime-relevant evidence.
Investment in street lighting improvement process: Through the implication of the strategy, the dim street lights in Liverpool City and the nearby regions can be modified by bright and transparently visible lights. As a result, the drug users will have fearful attitudes regarding the identification of their faces in case they involve in crime commitment. The installations of trimming brushes can improve the visibility of the street lights to reduce the rate of burglaries, robberies, property defacement, commercial damage, and sudden knife attack (Squires, 2017). In this context, the Government should also pay attention to the monthly maintenance and checking of the status of the street lights. Besides, more street lights have to be installed with frequent distances to reduce the crime rate by drug users. CPTED (Crime-Prevention-Through-Environmental-Design): The approach is covering five principles such as surveillance, physical security, maintenance and management, defensible space, and movement control. The prime ideology of this crime reduction approach is to permanently eliminate the opportunities and motivating elements of the crime from the environment and generate a crime-free zone for the community (Ceccato, 2020). In order to maintain physical security, the measurement in the individual dwellings is required. Through the surveillance type of principle, the residents have to ensure that their front doors are placed to the roadside, blank walls are ignored, and the region has to be well illuminated and vibrant. Every movement of the offenders is visualized in a 24x7 pattern by the police through the footage of CCTV.
- Harm reduction approaches
In order to reduce the harmful effects of drugs from the community, the following recommended approaches can be considered,
Building awareness with the assistance of NSW: With the support of NSW, the UK Government should have to conduct different promotional content on social media webpages to draw the attention of the community regarding the use of drugs. The content will be more information including the estimated rate of crime commitment by drug users, the physical adverse impact for drug consumption, societal effectiveness, and self-resolution techniques or therapeutic technique for overcoming the issue (Hawk et al., 2019). Besides, free participation in the conducted drug prevention workshops is also required to penetrate the awareness and knowledge regarding the excessive use of the drug and the direct impact upon oral, physical, and mental health.
Peering educational programs: NSW conducts a peer education program, DanceWizre, through which the community can chill out and participate in a face-to-face discussion forum regarding the harmful impact of drugs and its mitigation procedures for immediate overcoming(Harm reduction strategies - Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2021).
Stakeholder’s involvement
In order to execute the proposed recommended tactics for crime prevention and reduction of the harmful impact of the drug users in Liverpool, the involved stakeholders will be 1) UK Government, 2) NSW, and 3) Plaza Business-Owners. Through the coordination between the identified stakeholders, different crime prevention approaches are introduced to reduce or permanently eliminate the scope of increasing the crimes by the drug users.
PART 3: Justifications
- Justifications of the identified recommendations
The identified issue in this assessment is the rapid increase of the drug-addicted people across Liverpool City. According to the gathered qualitative information by the Council of Liverpool, NSW, it has been revealed that the drug users were extremely aggressive and violent in characteristics. Hence, they were involved in breaking into amenities, property defecation, commercial damage, sniffing, and stealing items from home. That is why the State Jurisdiction in Liverpool is desired to use the "Police patrolling" strategy on a rotational shift basis to observe the criminal activities of the most reported and dark regions of the city in a 24x7 manner. The implication of the "CCTV Strategy" is highly recommended to gather evidence of the criminal activities, committed by the drug users to place them in the local court (Hardy, 2020). Simultaneously, the monetary contribution in the improvement of the dim street lights across Liverpool City is highly recommended to reduce the rate of criminal events. The street light installations in this matter are also required to avoid the rapid appearance of the drug users in the lanes and streets across Liverpool. At the same time, the Government has created an incredible partnership with NSW to organize different “anti-drug making society” relevant workshops for the community to make them aware of its negative impact upon community and self-health. Besides, free flyers and leaflet distribution can be beneficial for the community to make them knowledgeable regarding the use of drugs and their impact upon oral and physical health. Social media promotion is one of the key weapons for the Government and NSW to spread the harmful impact of drug usage with less money and time investment process. With the acceptance of the CPTED crime prevention strategy, NSW and relevant social welfare agencies can identify the exact crime stimulating attributes and rationale of commitment. Therefore, the most relevant resolution technique identification process will be easier and less time-consuming.
- Alignment of the most appropriate approaches with the identified issue
The most appropriate recommended approach for the crime prevention process from Liverpool City is the implication of the CPTED type of multidisciplinary strategy. With this strategy, the unique and extraordinary design spaces regarding CCTV installations, modifications of roadside lights, and police patrolling will be done. The strategy will also encounter the transparent transitional zones through which the movement of the public, private, and semi-private spaces will be concisely interpreted to avoid the crime committed by the drug users (Ekblom, 2019). As a result, the prevention of home burglarizing, material stealing, kidnapping, pickpocketing, and breakage or damage of commercial or residential properties will be accomplished. Simultaneously, the regional Police Department should have to participate in the community motivation process such as immediate reporting of any minor or major crimes committed by the drug users, and submitting the crime-relevant evidence if noticeable to generate a crime-free ambiance across Liverpool (Trayneret al., 2019). The most valid and appropriate harm reduction process is considered as the conduction of the awareness building programs through which the community can gather knowledge regarding the harmful impact of drug usage can be shared with the community.
- Strengths of the approach
The prime strength of the identified crime reduction approach, CPTED, is to generate an opportunity to identify the rationale of the committed crime by the drug users. Another strength of this approach is included in the improvement of the sense of security with quality lifestyle generation by reducing the fearful attitudes from the community (Reynald and Mihinjac, 2019). Other strengths are associated with less crime commitment in neighbourhoods, fewer victimization of commercial residents, and enlargement of interactions between residents across Liverpool. The basic strength of identified harmful reduction approach is the widening scope of awareness building regarding drug usages along with its self and therapeutic mitigation approaches.
- Weaknesses of the approach
The prime weaknesses of CPTED are included in the strategy only involve in the crime reduction process for the shorter period, absence of societal cohesion, and a requirement of huge investment for safety designing (Piroozfar et al., 2019). Besides, the weakness of the awareness-building programs through social media platforms is that the less tech-savvy or unaware people can skip the sufficient knowledge relevant to drug usage, its harmful impact on oral, physical, and societal concepts.
References
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