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October 1991
POLICE PRACTICES
TELEMARKETING CRIME PREVENTION
By
David I. Rechenmacher
Lieutenant
Downers Grove, Illinois, Police Department
In dealing with residential burglaries, traditional law
enforcement practices tend to be strictly reactive and do little
to deter future crime. Additionally, due to fiscal constraints
in many jurisdictions, this problem is compounded by the limited
number of police officers available to patrol neighborhoods.
And, while neighborhood watch programs are important, they can
be difficult to maintain due to the high mobility of our
society.
The problems of residential burglaries confront every law
enforcement agency in the country. And, the Downers Grove,
Illinois, Police Department, with a sworn and civilian staff of
92, is no different. However, even with a crime prevention
program in place, local residents did not request any crime
prevention assistance.
HOME SECURITY SURVEY
The police department determined that the best service it
could provide to deter residential burglary was to offer a home
security survey. The home security survey, performed by members
of the department's Crime Prevention Unit, is a proactive
program aimed at reducing the number of residential burglaries.
In the past, however, the Crime Prevention Unit performed
home security surveys when requested by citizens.
Unfortunately, this method resulted in only 30-40 home surveys
being conducted annually, despite an area population of 46,000.
It was clear that in order for the program to be more effective,
it needed to reach more residents.
REACHING THE PUBLIC
As a result, in October 1988, the unit began having
messages printed on all water bills forwarded to Downers Grove
residents. These messages encouraged residents to call the
police department to make appointments for free home security
surveys. This initiative was met with a very positive response
from the community and resulted in 258 home security surveys
being conducted during 1989.
TELEMARKETING
Encouraged by the success of this initiative, the unit
thought that a more-aggressive marketing campaign would deliver
even better results. Therefore, in early 1990, the unit began a
telemarketing program using the city telephone directory as a
source for contacts.
Under this program, the Crime Prevention Unit's community
support assistant telephones residents to explain the free home
security survey and to make appointments to conduct the survey
at a time and date convenient to the resident. During the
survey, which takes approximately 1 hour, a crime prevention
practitioner evaluates home security risks, such as exterior
lighting and landscaping, doors, windows, and locks, and gives
advice to homeowners that would make their property and
possessions less vulnerable to burglars.
RESULTS
The telemarketing of home security surveys in Downers
Grove, Illinois, has not only proved successful but it has also
paid big community relations dividends for the police department
and the Village of Downers Grove. In 1990, the Crime Prevention
Unit completed 380 surveys and expects to perform over 400
during 1991.
CONCLUSION
Unfortunately, the importance of adequate crime prevention
is oftentimes difficult to instill in the general public until
it is too late. However, if law enforcement agencies want
successful crime prevention programs, they need to reach out to
the citizens before the unfortunate occurrence takes place.
Programs of this type are especially appropriate for departments
with small crime prevention components, because instead of
expensive equipment or capital outlay, they require only time
and dedication.