Introduction
The main aim of problem solving efforts is to help one make proper decisions. For example, one identifies the interventions that can help solve the problems. The Routine Activity Theory helps diagnose crimes in the society and identify the best solution. Different countries have established different initiatives to help reduce the rate of crime in the society. The initiatives contain various measures that are aimed at reducing the crime. The initiatives help identify the causes of crime, the regions where the crimes are evident and the ways to overcome the crimes. The rate of crime in the Queensland state is high. The crimes are caused by poor regulations, socioeconomic factors and poor parenting etc. Developing an initiative that helps identify the causes, areas evident and the methods to prevent crime can help reduce the rate of crime in the state. This paper develops an initiative to reduce the rater of crime.
Description of the initiative
Most countries have developed initiatives to help reduce the rate of crime. The initiatives have various elements like the initiative to be used in Queensland. First, the initiative will include the causes of crime in the Queensland state. There are various causes of crime in different countries. The causes of crime in the countries are almost similar. For instance , socioeconomic factors have led to increase in the rate of crime in the society. The gap between the poor and the rich has widened for the last ten decades. This has resulted to high rate of crime in the society as people have found alternative means of living. Recent studies have shown that the rate of crime resulting from socioeconomic factors have increased. People from poor families are more likely to commit crime than people from rich families. Many people in the country live below the poverty line. This has led to increase in the rate of crime. The crime rate is high in deprived communities in the society (Clarke &Felson, 1993).
Use of illegal drugs has also led to increase in the rate of crime in the society. For example, people taking illegal drugs like cocaine are more likely to commit crime than those who do not. The demand and supply for illegal drugs has increased in the world. This is because the drug policy used to control illegal drugs are not effective. The policies encourage people in the country to use illegal drugs. This has in turn led to high rate of crime in the society (Clarke &Felson, 1993).
Apart from use of illegal drugs, gang culture has also led to increase in crime in the state. Most children in the community spent time with gangsters. Children who interact with gangsters are more likely to be involved in criminal activities than children who do not. Poor parenting has increased the rate of crime in the society. Most parents do not educate their children on effect of gang culture. Poor parenting has forced children to be involved in criminal activities like robbery. The kind of rearing and the rearing environment determine the behaviors children have. Children whose parents have been imprisoned are likely to commit crimes unlike children whose parents have not. Gangs have been around for long.
The cultures in many communities have evolved and also gang have also evolved. A gang is a group of people who form alliance for a common goals. The gang always involve themselves in criminal activities. The gang members can be male or female aged between 14 and 21 years. Also, children aged 8 years and adults aged 30 yeas and above have been involved in criminal activities. Gang groups are common in Queensland like other countries. Parents are supposed to protect their children from gang culture. This will help reduce the rate of crime in the society (Clarke &Felson, 1993).
In addition, lack of education among the community members has led to high rate of crime in the states. The community centers have not been utilized well. This has made it difficulty for community members to get the right education on drug abuse and other causes of crime (Clarke &Felson, 1993).
The initiative includes a description of a criminal profile’s. A criminal profile is important in contriving crime in the society as it helps identify suspects. The criminal profiles gives a brief description of the suspect. People who commit crimes have the following characteristics. First, the criminals are not uneducated. They lack enough knowledge on the impact of crime in the society. Additionally, people who commit crime are drug dependants. The criminals use hard drugs like cocaine and the drugs influence how the criminal behaves and thinks. This makes it difficulty for the criminal to reason well. Also, people who commit crime always have dysfunctional parents. Poor parenting has forced them to commit crimes as listed above. In addition, people who commit crime are likely to have committed several crimes when they were young. Diagnosing the criminals profile helps develop the right solution to prevent crime in the society (Felson, 2009).
Moreover, the initiative outlines the methods used to control crime in the state. There are various strategies that can be used to prevent crime in the state. In order to develop the right strategies to prevent crime, one has to identify the risks associated with the crime. The police officers and other members involved in implementing the initiative should identify various things. They should have a clear understanding of the crime problem in the states. For example, they should know where the crime occurs and when it occurs. Also, they should know who commits the crime and people affected by the act.
Most crimes that happen can be reduced easily as they are not planned. They can be reduced by removing the opportunity to commit the crime and increasing the chances of arresting the offenders. The initiative helps identify the places the crime occurs, who commits it and when it is committee. crimes are more likely to occur in some areas than others. The areas where crimes occur are referred to as hotspots. The police officers and other leaders should develop situation prevention measures. The police officers can reduce the rate of crime in the state by improving the environment. They should improve lighting in the state.
Poor lighting has led to more crimes being committed at night. So, the law enforcement officers should improve the lighting so as to prevent crime. Also, they should improve the environment so as to ensure no hotspots. They should also provide community centers. The community centers are supposed to provide education to the public and help people acquire new skills. The ineffectiveness of community centers has led to more crimes in the states. Most people committing the crimes are not educated. Providing the community embers with the right education wail help reduce the rate of crime (Felson, 2009).
Further, the law enforcement officers should improve the surveillance in the area. This will in turn reduce the rate of crime in the area. The law enforcement officers should reduce the consumption of hard drugs and alcohol in the region. This will help reduce the crime rate in the region. The initiative has worked effectively in other countries as it has led to reduction of crime in the region. Thus, the initiative can be adopted to lower the rate of crime in queens land (Felson, 2009).
Theoretical perspectives
There are various theories that can be used to diagnose crime problems in Queensland. Routine activity theory is used to diagnose crime problems in the states. Routine activity theory helps law enforcement officers understand the causes of crime problems in the society. Advocates of routine activity theory believe that criminals are more likely to commit crimes if there are no effective controls. This gives the criminals an opportunity to attack the target. Criminals are motivated by the presence of a target to commit criminal actives. The offender will not commit crime if the target is not available. On the other hand, the criminal will commit a crime if the target is available. Criminals are not able to commit crime if the controllers are available .
For example, people who are influential are likely to affect the lives of the offenders different. For example, parents, relatives and other people in the community affect the offender differently . For instance, poor parenting makes it easy for children to commit crime in the society. In addition, the relatives can influence criminals to commit criminal activities. Children learn behaviors from parents and relatives. Children are likely to commit crime if they have poor rearing. These people are referred to as handlers in routine activity theory. Crime is likely to happen where the handlers are not strong or corrupt. In the case of poor parenting, crime is likely to happen when parents do not bring up their children well. Also, crime is likely to happen if parents do not protect children from gang culture and gang groups (Clarke &Felson, 1993).
The target or victim is likely to be attacked if it does not have the right protection. Guardian protects targets from theft and attack. Examples of formal guardians are law enforcement officers and guards. The formal guardians protect people and property from criminal activities. Informal guardians like friends and neighbors protect the target from attack. A target having an effective guardian is less likely to be attacked by criminals than a target having no guardian. Law enforcement officers are supposed to protect the community from criminal activities. If the law enforcement officers do not carry out their duties effectively, then the community is attacked by criminals. The target is attacked if the guardians are weak (Clarke &Felson, 1993).
Finally, places that are protected by laws are less likely to be attacked by criminals than places that are not protected. People have developed laws to control access to sates and behaviors of people using the sites. The owners and other agents take care of the place and people using place. In this case place managers control the behaviors of criminals and victims. Crimes are likely to occur in an areas where there is a weak, corrupt and absent place manager than where there is a place managers (Felson, 2009).
Apart from place managers, handlers, tools also influence criminals to commit criminal activities. Gang members use different types of tools to commit crime. For instance the gang members use guns. Offenders who have no access to tools are less likely to commit crime than those who have. Advocates of routine activity theory argue that law enforcement officers and others people should find measures to reduce the opportunities for committing the crimes. For instance, the advocates argue that laws enforcement officers can improve the lighting in the areas so as to increased surveillance. This will deter the criminals from committing crime. Also, they can use fence and gates to prevent criminal behaviors (Felson, 2009)..
Problems happen where there is no effective control and the offender and the target are in the same place. The chances of a crime are reduced greatly if their is a controller. The effectiveness of people to be involved will depend on the availability of tools. If the tools used in criminal active cities are available. Then the people will be more involved in criminal activities than before. Adding or removing elements in the routine activity theory triangle will help change the chances of committing crime. The presence of attractive targets and weak hinders increased the cricked rate (Felson, 2009).
Like other people in the society offenders have routine behaviors that make it difficulty for them to meet with handlers. This gives them an opportunity to discover the attractive targets. The spatial ordering of crime chances and the regular routines of criminals and targets have led to the criminal problems evidenced in the society. Hence, the routine activity theory is an effective method of explaining the causes of crimped (Community gateway association, 2010).
The problems in the community include the damages caused by various types of crime and the effects of the crime on the targets. The crimes have led to huge damages in the community. This has resulted to financial problems as people spend a lot of money of repairing damages. Also, the criminal activities in the region have affected the target negatively. Another problem in the region is burglary. Every problem has more than one solution, the law enforcement officers are supposed to identify the best solution. The solution identified should give positive results when implemented. The problems have been analyzed using quantitative technique. The quantitative technique allows law enforcement officers to collect data and analyze it using statistical methods. The technique has been employed in this study to study the problems in the community (Community gateway association, 2010).
There are other criminals not listed in this project that might have led to reduction of crime. The crime rate in the country might have reduced as a result of imprisonment. Most people argue that prisons deter people in the society from committing crime. This makes it easy for the country to reduce the rate of crime. Another factor that might have led to reduction in crime rated is gun control. Some countries have authorized citizens to carry guns for protection. This makes it easy for the citizens to protect themselves from criminals. People having guns are less likely to be attacked by criminals then people who do not have guns. The governments does not allows any one in the country to carry guns. people having social problems and those who are mentally ill are not allowed to carry out criminals .This helps redline the chances of committing crimes. The methods have helped reduce the rate of crimes in other countries (Felson, 2009).
Recommendation
The law enforced agencies and the government should adopt this initiative. This is because the initiative will help reduce the rate of crime in the society. The initiative will make it easy to eliminate crime in the state. This is because the initative explains the various causes of crime in the society. The routine activity theory explains why criminals commit crimes. The law enforcement officers will be able to control crime in the society by understanding the offenders routine and targets routines. The law enforcement officers will be able to link, offenders, target, tools and places so as to understand crime problems in the country. The initiative has worked effectively in other countries, so it will work well in Queensland (Community gateway association, 2010).
Conclusion
The initiative is effective in solving crime problems in Queensland. This is because the initiative outlines the causes, effects and ways to prevent crimes. It also helps laws enforcement officers diagnose crimes problems in the area. The routine activity theory helps the law enforcement officers find the best solution to the crime problems.
Reference
gateway association.(2010).Moppin Up Dodge
Clarke, R.V., &Felson, M. (1993).Routine activity and rational choice.Transaction Publishers
Felson, M.(2009).Crime and Everyday Life. SAGE
