Local crime prevention requires cooperation. In Finland, the organization of cooperation among the authorities applies in particular to cooperation between the police and certain municipal administrative entities. Community policing requires the support of municipal authorities in order to succeed in the prevention of crime. The expertise of the police, in turn, is needed in those matters that affect crime where it is the municipality that has the responsibility for decision-making and implementation.

The organization of cooperation in crime prevention among the different municipal entities is all the more important, the larger the municipality and the more complex its administrative structure. The police have a special obligation to ensure that the necessary local crime prevention cooperative network is established.

The structure of local crime prevention cooperation network depends on the local conditions. The organization of crime prevention cooperation on the municipal level should apply at least to those municipal entities that are responsible for

• urban planning,
• social welfare,
• youth welfare, and
• education

but possibly also

• property management and municipal engineering,
• housing,
• sports and recreational activities,
• cultural affairs, and
• health care.

As for the State authorities, the partners in the cooperation should include above all the police. However, also representatives of the judiciary and the prosecutorial service could have an important role in this cooperation. The Probation Service can be an important partner in cooperation in those municipalities where it has an office, and similarly the employment office in the municipalities with a high level of unemployment.

The success of local crime prevention can be enhanced if also the local business community, parishes and civic organizations participate. The cooperation network should utilize and promote the readiness of the public to be involved in civic activities.

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