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Prevention Policing: Two Different Strategic Approaches

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Abstract

In 2009, the New Zealand Police implemented a comprehensive program called Policing Excellence, which provided the platform for the introduction of Prevention First in 2011. In 2014, Police Scotland implemented a prevention strategy. The strategy implemented by New Zealand was designed to place the victims of crime and the prevention of crime at the foreground of their service delivery, with the view that in the longer-term, crime would decrease, while the strategy introduced by Police Scotland was designed to increase the effectiveness of their service delivery. This article examines the differences between the processes used to adopt the strategies and how they were used after their implementation. Both strategies were introduced as a response to the criminal environment and to decrease the occurrence of crime, but neither strategy have resulted in large decreases in the level of crime or in an increase in the confidence held by the public. The review found that the strategies have not achieved what was originally intended and argues for a more comprehensive and theoretical basis for designing policing strategies to ensure that crime is reduced.

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Notes

  1. The Commission for the Future Delivery of Public Services in Scotland, chaired by Campbell Christie, was established by the Scottish Government in November 2011. The Commission was established to produce a ‘road map’ for the future reform of public service delivery in Scotland, and to inform work to reform public service delivery in Scotland over the coming 5 to 10 years (see https://www.impower.co.uk/insights/christie-commission-report-on-public-services-scotland).

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  1. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Garth den Heyer

  2. Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Garth den Heyer

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  1. Garth den Heyer
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den Heyer, G. Prevention Policing: Two Different Strategic Approaches. Public Organiz Rev 23, 325–342 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00633-w

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