Everyone needs to help keep society safe

Everyone needs to help keep society safe

We anticipate that police will lead the pack in keeping roads safe. However, another book says folks, instructors, social specialists and others ought to assume a much greater part in counteracting wrongdoing.

The Nordic countries invest more resources in preventing crime than many other countries, says Professor Tore Bjørgo, of the Norwegian Police University College. While police forces are at the forefront in working to keep streets safe, Bjørgo says we all need to play a part in keeping people from becoming criminals.

Bjørgo has written a new book based on his and others’ research that describes nine measures we can all use to prevent crime.  He hopes the book will become part of the curriculum at the university college where he teaches, but says it is also relevant to other university courses of study.

Motorcycle gangs to terrorist acts
Bjørgo says his nine preventive measures are best suited to prevent five different forms of crime: house break-ins, crimes committed by youth gangs, driving under the influence, organized crime that grows out of motorcycle gangs and terrorist acts.

The nine measures are:

    Building moral barriers against crime
    Reducing recruitment to criminal groups
    Deterring criminals with the threat of punishment
    Detecting and stopping crimes before they happen
    Neutralizing the ability of offenders to commit crimes
    Protecting vulnerable targets
    Reducing the harmful effect of crimes
    Reducing the material gains from criminal acts
    Helping people who have broken the law to return to a normal life
Drinking, driving, losing your license
“Moral barriers are what prevent most crimes. Everyone has the chance to prevent criminal acts by showing that these acts are morally unacceptable,” Bjørgo says.

Attitudes towards right and wrong are shaped mostly during adolescence, but they can also be affected by changing the law.

When the blood alcohol limit in Norway was lowered from 0.5 to 0.2 per thousand, it was no longer socially acceptable to drink a beer before getting behind the wheel, Bjørgo said.

“But not everyone has equally strong moral barriers,” he added. “Some people have few or no scruples about breaking the law or hurting others. That’s when we need to use other measures to prevent crime.”

For example, Norway’s strict drunken driving laws offer an effective preventative mechanism, because you can easily lose your license if you are caught driving drunk. That can be a very effective deterrence for some.

Family members may have to intervene with individuals who are not deterred by the fear of losing their license. Another alternative is an alcolock, which keeps drunk drivers from starting their cars. And people who chronically drink and drive often have a substance abuse problem that must be treated, Bjørgo says.

“These are examples of different measures that can result in deterrence, prevention and rehabilitation,” Bjørgo said.