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Sustainability for crime prevention

All crime prevention initiatives should be sustainable. Otherwise, the problems of crime and victimization in a community will simply come back. However, sustainability is an abstract concept. Most of us instinctively focus on the immediate problem and short-term solution. As well, it is difficult, if not impossible, for one community organization to create a sustainable culture of crime prevention alone.

So how do you sustain crime prevention initiatives for the long term? It takes long-term planning, targeted spending and effective partnerships. It means a repeatable pattern of community activities and attitudes that persist, regardless of government funding. It requires innovation, flexibility and sometimes a willingness to take risks.

Just as there are no two communities alike, there is no single formula for sustainability. Sustainability activities undertaken by one community may not work for another. It is up to the individual communities and organizations like yours to determine and execute appropriate strategies.

The following are some well-established practices and strategies for sustaining crime prevention. They have been tested and proven by organizations and communities in Canada and other countries. Follow the best practices and apply strategies most appropriate to your crime prevention initiatives, your organization and your community.

• Best practices for sustainability
• Strategies for sustainability
• Learn more about sustainable initiatives for crime prevention

Best practices for sustainability

• Make it meaningful to the community
  Work with local groups and organizations to identify needs, problems and solutions that are meaningful for them.
• Build local connections
  Connect your organization and specific project to the individuals and groups who share concern in the problem. It is through these connections that individual/private concerns become community-wide/public issues.
• Inspire local ownership and provide leadership
  Ensure the problem(s) and their solutions are owned by the community, rather than a single individual or group. Effective leadership and coordination is necessary to find shared solutions and carry out the work.
• Ensure the vision is a community vision
  Your project partners and you might start by identifying a single issue but broader needs and issues will always emerge. Ensure that you develop and maintain a focus on the bigger picture -- a vision of where the community is going -- while simultaneously working step-by-step on a specific issue.

Strategies for sustainability

• Celebrate and communicate interim successes
  Crime prevention initiatives usually take time before tangible results are seen. Incorporate activities and milestones throughout the duration of the project to boost support for, and commitment to the project. Early and mid-term successes help to further inspire community interest and involvement.
• Keep the community in the loop
  Keep the community informed about the issue the project seeks to address, and progress made throughout the project. This will help to keep the community engaged and encourages support both for the project and the resulting outcomes.
• Plan for the future
  Map out the future and the resources that will be required in the future. It can provide insight into developing a variety of strategies to provide a steady base of resources over time.
• Bridge sectors
  Work collaboratively across sectors to develop strategic partnerships to leverage resources and to promote shared ownership of the issue being addressed. Partnering with other levels of government like provinces, territories and municipalities, as well as other community organizations, academics, the private sector and other sectors in a coordinated manner help communities in achieving sustainability.
• Maintain open lines of communications
  Maintain a constant communication link between community partners and stakeholders throughout the project. You will need to be creative and find opportunities to share information, skills and experiences within and across communities and sectors.
• Go with the flow
  Recognize that change is inevitable and that you can expect to face unexpected challenges throughout your project. Regular monitoring and reporting of progress can contribute to the project’s ability to plan and deal with new and emerging challenges.
• Be inclusive
  Develop a non-hierarchical, integrated approach that is sensitive to your community’s diversity. This does not mean that there is no leadership. Leadership just needs to be inclusive. By empowering individuals and groups you will also make your community more flexible and capable of responding to issues that, inevitably, evolve over time.

Learn more about sustainable initiatives for crime prevention

The following resources were referenced for the development of this guidance document. To obtain further information on sustainability refer to these helpful resources:

• A Portrait of Sustainable Crime Prevention in Selected Canadian Communities
• Filling the Gap: Keeping Good Work Going