Crime prevention

Crime Prevention Manager: Lucie Šlapáková, MSc

List of activities:

co-operation with the anti-drugs co-ordinator and the crime prevention manager at the Regional Authority
close cooperation with the Municipal Police, the Police of the Czech Republic, the Probation and Mediation Service, schools and other public administration bodies or departments, as well as state and non-state organisations involved in prevention programmes or initiatives
organising discussions, lectures, educational programmes and other activities within the scope of the role
preparing half-yearly reports on crime trends, drawing on findings and data from the Municipal Police, the Police of the Czech Republic, the Probation and Mediation Service, etc.
coordinating the activities of partners within the Crime Prevention Working Group
preparing information materials for the public concerning preventative recommendations or measures
drafting the Municipal Crime Prevention Programme and other policy documents

Crime Prevention Programmes

Municipal Programme:

The City of Příbram’s Crime Prevention Programme for 2026

Crime Prevention
Policy:

Crime Prevention Strategy for 2024–2026

Important links:

www.prevencekriminality.cz

www.mvcr.cz/clanek/strategie-prevence-kriminality-na-leta-2012-2015.aspx

The
concept of crime
prevention The concept of crime prevention encompasses a range of measures relating to social prevention and situational prevention, including informing the public about ways to protect themselves against crime and providing support to victims of crime. The aim of these measures is to reduce crime and its consequences.

Crime is the most extreme manifestation of social pathology.

Targets of crime prevention:
- criminogenic factors – the social environment, causes and conditions of crime;
- potential or actual offenders;
- potential or actual victims of crime. Alongside law enforcement, crime

prevention forms part of criminal policy.

A. Structure of crime prevention

I.1. Social prevention
comprises activities that influence the process of socialisation and social integration, as well as activities aimed at changing adverse social and economic conditions, which are regarded as key causes of criminal behaviour.

The effectiveness of social prevention is difficult to measure statistically or economically; it can only be inferred on the basis of estimates of the social prospects of individuals – the targets of preventive measures. Social prevention forms part of social policy.

I.2. Situational prevention
is based on the observation that certain types of crime occur at specific times, in specific places and under specific circumstances. It seeks to minimise criminogenic conditions through measures involving regulatory, physical and technical protection. It is most effective in reducing property crime.

Situational prevention is relatively inexpensive, places minimal demands on staffing and material resources, and has a rapid and relatively easily measurable statistical effect. However, its effectiveness depends on the continued implementation of appropriate measures.

Crime prevention, particularly at the primary level, overlaps with the prevention of other socially pathological phenomena, the most serious of which is substance abuse.

I. 3. The prevention of drug addiction
in relation to crime prevention encompasses a comprehensive approach, ranging from preventing experimentation with drugs amongst the as yet unaffected population and non-specific education on healthy lifestyles, through to outpatient and residential treatment in indicated cases of problematic drug misuse, and on to the rehabilitation and resocialisation of individuals who have already undergone treatment and for whom it is in the public interest to maintain their achieved abstinence and help them return to normal life.

I.4. The prevention of victimisation and support for victims of crime
is based on concepts of safe behaviour, tailored to different criminal situations and the psychological preparedness of those at risk. In practice, this involves group and individual health, psychological and legal counselling, training in defence strategies, and the promotion of technical measures to protect against criminal activity.

B. Levels of preventive activities
Social and situational approaches complement one another in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

- Primary prevention primarily comprises educational, training, leisure, awareness-raising and counselling activities aimed mainly at the general public. Particular attention is paid to positively influencing children and young people in particular (leisure activities, opportunities for sporting activities).

The focus of primary prevention lies in families, schools and local communities.

- Secondary prevention addresses at-risk individuals and groups who are more likely to become perpetrators or victims of crime (specialised social care), as well as socially pathological phenomena (e.g. drug and alcohol addiction, truancy, gambling addiction, vagrancy, vandalism, inter-ethnic conflicts, long-term unemployment) and the causes of criminogenic situations. - Tertiary prevention involves the resocialisation of individuals with criminal behaviour (employment support, including retraining, social and family counselling, assistance with securing accommodation, etc.). Its aim is to sustain the results achieved through previous interventions and to rebuild a dysfunctional social environment.

Responsibility for primary and social prevention lies with the family, the local authority and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Given the technical complexity of the individual activities involved, secondary and tertiary prevention fall within the remit of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and, in certain contexts, also the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Defence is also active in relation to a specific section of the population.

The main responsibility for situational prevention measures lies primarily with citizens and local authorities, and, within the scope of their defined powers, also with the Ministry of the Interior and the Police of the Czech Republic.