Responsabilità e partecipazione dei cittadini nella prevenzione della criminalità urbana

Abstract

[Responsibility and citizen participation in urban crime prevention] Insecurity and people‘s feeling of insecurity are a complex issue. Handling it requires a form of governance in which public and private partners cooperate. Moreover the action will be efficient only if analyses and responses are strictly related to the specific area affected by crime and citizen participation is vital to urban security. Whereas the citizens were, in the past, the stakeholders of security programmes, they now are the principal actors. Community participation is an integral part of the whole crime prevention strategy. Moreover, community participation is an efficient means for responsibilizing people and developing a sense of solidarity. But, as a matter of fact, citizens generally are not fully aware of the importance of their role. On the contrary, their own behaviour very often favours crime. How can citizens be involved in crime prevention in our cities? What kind of initiatives must be developed and encouraged?