Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Mainstreaming Community Safety - The Middle Level

Building Crime and Disorder Reduction into Departments’ Mainstream Activities

Taking the application of Section 17 a stage further, this approach involves councils making crime and disorder reduction part of their core business and building it into departments' regular activities - often known as 'mainstreaming' community safety. One of the main benefits of this approach is that progress is less dependent on projects and short-term initiatives. Mainstreaming also enables a more rigorous approach based on performance management, evaluation, learning and continuous improvement.

In practice ‘mainstreaming’ might mean:

• Having strategies/policies in place to identify and reduce the risks of crime to staff, local communities and property

• Supporting staff in developing the knowledge and skills they need to identify opportunities for improving community safety and minimising risks

• Incorporating a commitment to improving community safety in job descriptions and person specifications, in much the same way that commitment to equal opportunities is generally required

• Building community safety into public consultations

• Ensuring activity is not time limited except where there is good reason for demonstration projects

• Funding through mainstream budgets

• Assigning clear responsibility and reporting procedures for key initiatives

• Including community safety objectives in service plans and other routine planning

• Developing information (including cost-benefit analysis) and risk management systems for planning and monitoring; and implementing performance management procedures to make sure that crime and disorder reduction outcomes, and savings, are achieved.

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