NEED TO KEEP PACE WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIME PREVENTION EMPHASIZED THIS AFTERNOON AT UN CRIME CONGRESS

Press Release
SOC/CP/222

NEED TO KEEP PACE WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIME PREVENTION EMPHASIZED THIS AFTERNOON AT UN CRIME CONGRESS

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

VIENNA, 12 April -- The issues of effective crime prevention and the need to keep pace with new developments in the field were discussed this afternoon at the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. Presenting the topic were experts from the United States, China and France.

The expert from the United States said it was necessary to consider means of promoting a more even development of the main means of crime prevention and of applying lessons learned from prior traditional crime prevention. The Crime Congress should also address the question of partnerships and coordination of efforts for effective crime prevention. Among other aspects to be considered were difficult ethical questions, including those of privacy and stigmatization of individuals and neighbourhoods. It was also necessary to encourage evaluation of crime prevention projects and programmes and ensure the necessary level of expertise.

The expert from China said that the developing and developed countries had different perspectives as far as crime and the threat of crime were concerned. They also had different stakes in crime prevention. It was not always true that the developing countries should learn from the developed ones; sometimes, that situation should be reversed.

The expert from France observed a tendency to compartmentalize traditional crimes and evolving organized criminal activities. However, they should be addressed together. There was a need for partnership and a collective approach to crime prevention; and it was necessary to learn from one another.

During the discussion that followed, speakers identified various methods of crime prevention and policies adopted by particular countries, including programmes of child and social development. They stressed the development of community projects and the need to undertake research on crime prevention practices. Major problem areas were defined, and areas for future research identified.

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Haiti said that, in many cases, young people migrating to the developed countries found that themselves operating in criminal circles. When criminally inclined, they also often acquired a level of technological expertise, which presented problems for their home countries. To prevent such difficulties, legislation in several countries provided for their return home.

Highlighting an aspect of this morning’s discussions on organized transnational crime, the representative of Finland said that such crime originated within national boundaries. Therefore, in the long run, measures to prevent local crime would also prevent the involvement of individuals in transnational structures. Generally, crime problems should be dealt with through national efforts. The most effective approach sought prevention of local problems at the local level. Also emphasized was the need to examine all public decisions, not just from the point of view of immediate concerns, but from the point of view of crime implications. The responsibility for crime prevention did not belong to the authorities alone. Working together with businesses and civil society should be at the centre of prevention efforts.

Other statements were made this afternoon by the representatives of Botswana, Argentina, Mexico and Australia.

Also this afternoon, the Congress elected the head of the Romanian delegation as Vice-Chairman of its Committee I.

The Congress will return to the issue of international cooperation against transnational organized crime at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 13 April. It will continue its consideration of effective crime prevention at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Effective Crime Prevention

The Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders began discussion this afternoon on keeping pace with new developments in effective crime prevention.

The discussion tackles as its starting point a Secretariat working paper (document A/CONF.187/7) that points out that only during the last 20 years have governments devoted serious attention to crime prevention, which has become a subject for concentrated academic study. Progress made includes the establishment of national crime prevention councils and agencies in many countries.

According to the paper, other signs of progress include the implementation of government-supported crime prevention programmes in developed countries; the direct effect of crime prevention programmes on many aspects of people’s everyday life; the expansion of writing and research by criminologists on crime prevention; and the establishment of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, a non-profit organization based in Montreal.

Despite the considerable progress made in developing the full potential of crime prevention, the paper states, many challenges lie ahead, including those resulting from unresolved ethical issues, implementation problems and technical difficulties in evaluating the effectiveness of crime prevention.

Two main sources of those challenges are identified as the uneven development of crime prevention and the broad social, economic and technological changes that are altering the nature of crime. The resulting challenges include the scarcity of funding in an era of “small government”; unequal development of the theory and practice of the main forms of crime prevention; the non- recognition of the crime prevention concept in many developing countries; and the focus on traditional forms of crime.

According to the paper, organized crime is widely perceived as a growing threat to civil society. Drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and money laundering constitute a particular threat to developing and transition countries. These crimes are likely to increase with increasing globalization and the associated increase in international trade, the expansion of business and the greater erosion of political borders. It is also recognized that traditional legal or enforcement responses to organized crime cannot succeed alone and must be combined with prevention.

Opinion and techniques vary on how to prevent organized crime, according to the paper. To the extent that it thrives on disadvantage, social developments, community development and child development may all play a part in prevention. However, disadvantage is not the key to understanding organized crime. Rather, the key seems to be that, in every society, illegal opportunities abound to make large sums of money. It is those opportunities that permit organized crime to flourish.

The paper says that the increased attention paid by governments to child development is a change of considerable significance. Equally significant is that international bodies, including the United Nations and the World Bank, are increasingly recognizing that the rule of law must precede economic and social progress. This could ultimately result in the channeling of more international resources into crime prevention through social development.

Implementation difficulties, the paper says, include difficulties in persuading people to agree to the necessary measures and difficulties in getting agreed-upon measures implemented correctly. It also lists a number of ethical issues, rights and responsibilities relating to crime prevention. These include the use of closed-circuit television and other methods of electronic surveillance; the increased use of security guards and private policing; and the growing use of security devices which may lead to the regimentation of society. There is also the insistence that members of the public take precautions, resulting in crime victims being blamed for their own misfortunes.

The paper recommends that Member States, in creating an international crime prevention framework, set out meaningful, achievable and concrete tasks that take into account the main international instruments relating to human rights and crime prevention.

Experts’ Presentations

RONALD CLARKE (United States): The working paper before the Congress defines crime prevention as initiatives seeking to promote safety and security that do not resort to formal criminal justice sanctions. Several kinds of crime prevention are identified in that document, including situational measures; and community, child and social development. The main means of crime prevention are based on the prevalent definitions of crime and take into consideration the situation in different countries and communities. During the past 20 years, governments have begun to pay attention to crime prevention, and many achievements have been registered in that respect. In many countries, national agencies on crime prevention have been established. Countries are developing community projects and undertaking research of crime prevention practice.

However, the international community is facing many challenges. The knowledge about some kinds of crime far surpasses research on other criminal acts. Knowledge is uneven, and more universal study is needed. Now it is necessary to determine how to promote a more even development of the main means of crime prevention, and how to apply lessons learned from prior traditional crime prevention to the emerging new kinds of crime. The Congress should also address the question of partnerships and coordination of efforts for effective crime prevention. Some difficult ethical questions also need to be considered, including those of privacy and the stigmatization of individuals and neighbourhoods. Also, since effective crime prevention is the goal, how can we encourage evaluation of crime prevention projects and programmes and ensure the necessary level of expertise?

GUO JAIN’AN (China): The developing and developed countries have different perspectives as far as crime and the threat of crime are concerned. The developed countries have to face organized crime, while developing countries, because of the problems of industrial and economic transformation, are more affected by such traditional crimes as fraud, murder and rape, which have been rising. China has to face an influx of traditional crime in the major towns, where most crime is related to domestic migrants.

For the European countries, which have completed the industrialization and modernization of towns, traditional crime fell between 1990 and 1997. In Asia, which is undergoing industrialization, as well as a population explosion, the traditional crime rate has risen phenomenally. Organized crime and crimes related to new technology have done considerable damage. The developing countries have to deal with the new crimes, as well as traditional crime -- in effect, suffering twice.

Developed and developing countries have different stakes in crime prevention. The latter have to face up to a lack of financial resources and find it difficult to make funds available for electronic surveillance. However, China, a developing country that is fairly developed, has a fair number of prisons, but not the financial means to obtain sophisticated equipment.

Because of the very low living standards in developing countries, resources are spent on meeting basic material needs; citizens do not wish to assist in crime prevention. If the developed countries, which have elaborate crime prevention methods, do not grant technical assistance and technology transfer to the developing countries, the latter could find themselves suffering from various aspects of organized crime.

MARIE PIERRE DE LIEGE (France): The substance of crime prevention implies the strategies of fighting against crime and recurrence of criminal behaviour. Usually, there are explosions of crime during a time of social upheavals and change. Crime is not just a matter of development -- it is also a phenomenon associated with social transformation, when the population has to adapt to the new conditions. An argument has been put forward that it is necessary to distinguish between ordinary offences and organized crime. It is said that societies have already developed the strategies for dealing with traditional kinds of crime, but the question remains if they have worked out the means of fighting organized crime. Such separation should not be strictly enforced. In crime prevention, it is necessary to understand that different methods are appropriate for different types of crimes, but, in many cases, it is necessary to combine different means of prevention.

All States are forced to face the problem of crime at a serious level. While views differ on the means of crime prevention, many States are now saying that crime is not just the responsibility of a particular government, but should be dealt with collectively. During the current deliberations, it is necessary to find an opportunity to improve the exchange of information and to have a genuine discussion, not just pointing out successes, but also concentrating on the failures and problems. We have a lot to learn from each other.

In the discussion that followed, the representative of Botswana said the working paper made some erroneous conclusions which assumed that solutions that have worked in the developed countries should be applied in the developing countries.

The expert from China said it was not necessary for developing countries to import ideas from the developed countries. They should learn from one another.

The representative of Argentina said that when the economy limited the resources available to fight crime, what should the priorities be in Latin America, for example, which had the highest rate of violence in the world? How could those types of crime be tackled in the light of such constraints?

Ms. DE LIEGE, expert from France, said the priority in certain States was undoubtedly the fight against conventional crime, which provided a sort of labour force for organized crime. The long-term interest of traditional conventional crime was not to cooperate with organized crime, which could eventually snuff it out. Ultimately, social development, education and poverty- reduction strategies were always less costly than the technology-intensive strategies required to tackle organized crime. Each country had to fit within a certain context, and the pressures exerted by the international community to fight organized crime could not always be ignored.

Haiti said that a particular problem affected Central America and the Caribbean, especially Haiti. Young people moved to the developed countries and sometimes found themselves operating in criminal circles and developing a high level of technical skills. When they returned home or were repatriated after serving a prison term, they presented problems for their home countries when they applied their technological expertise to criminal enterprises. This was a transfer of actual criminality.

Other Statements

MARIA LIMA (Mexico): The Government of Mexico has provided substantial assets towards improving the judicial system of the country and ensuring legislative support. Now it is necessary to also tackle issues of crime prevention, emphasizing the involvement of community and social development. These problems need to be addressed jointly by the Government and civil society. A national information centre is being set up to promote knowledge about legal matters, and several State-level committees are promoting multi-cultural values and providing public awareness and training courses. Mexico recognizes that it still has incomplete information about victimization of certain groups. It is also expanding services for victims of crime.

A national meeting of prosecutors has been held regularly. Mexico is also trying to structure its preventive programmes, emphasizing the rule of law. Efforts are being made to reduce drug consumption and to establish preventive measures against people trafficking and illegal migration. The country is also trying to address the issue of domestic violence, categorizing it as a criminal offence.

ANJA TUIENHEIMO-TAKKI (Finland): Generally, crime problems should be dealt with through national efforts. Certainly, a variety of tools are needed to combat transnational crime. However, organized transnational crime originates within national boundaries. Therefore, in the long run, measures to prevent local crime will also prevent involvement of individuals in transnational structures.

Finland’s year-old national programme of crime prevention implements draft principles of responsible crime prevention elaborated during a recent meeting in Buenos Aires. Two fundamental principles of crime prevention need to be emphasized: first, all public decisions should take into account their impact on crime. Matters should not be examined only from the narrow perspective of immediate concerns. For example, when administrative cutbacks need to be made, it is necessary to consider not only cost-effectiveness at the moment, but also long-term effects of unemployment. Second, the responsibility for crime prevention does not belong to the authorities alone. Working together with businesses and civil society should be at the centre of prevention efforts. The most effective approach seeks prevention of local problems at the local level. It is there that one can effectively identify the areas of particular concern.

It is important to develop and adopt a national crime prevention programme, but it is even more important to make sure that such a programme is implemented. Representatives of local groups and organizations took part in the drafting of Finland’s national programme. Implementation of the Finnish programme is off to a good start. Reduction of crime and improvement of safety is being sought. People are learning about different measures used to prevent crime. Various factors need to be taken into consideration when drafting a crime prevention programme. For example, even if a media campaign can lead to a reduction of crime, it can also lead to an increased feeling of insecurity. Crime prevention measures should be combined with efforts to address the problems of victims. The basic principles section of the draft should not result in stigmatization or social segregation. At issue is a more general principle that should be taken into consideration in urban planning, in making plans for providing schooling, and in deciding on technological measures for crime prevention.

ADAM GRAYCAR (Australia): The focus should be on reducing the community’s vulnerability to crime and violence; diverting potential offenders into more productive activities; and supporting and empowering those who have become victims of crime.

The Australian Institute of Criminology has been working in crime prevention for 27 years. It covers a range of issues focusing on drugs, credit card fraud, environmental crime and others.

In crime policy, everybody has a view. Evidence of what does or does not work rarely finds its way into policy. The media and public opinion do. Everybody claims to be an expert, often with simplistic views of what does or does not work.

Knowing what works and making it work are two different things. Although we are talking about transnational crime, there would be no transnational crime if there were no domestic crime, which is the local base of the pyramid. To understand transnational crime, we need to understand the shifting social issues.

Stick to the evidence of crime prevention; lay a firm basis for evaluation; and build blocks from the local to the transnational level of crime. Use the new technology fully.

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