NCCP IS SEARCHING FOR THE FINNISH CANDIDATE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ECPA-COMPETITION

The National Council for Crime Prevention is searching for a project to participate as the Finnish candidate in the year 2003 European Crime Prevention Competition (ECPA-competition). Projects can be proposed by the project organizations themselves, someone involved in the project organizations or anyone at all. The applications and suggestions are to be delivered by the end of September to the National Council for Crime Prevention.

The crime prevention competition that was originated 1987 in the Netherlands, has expanded to cover several countries and during the last five years it has been formed as the European crime prevention award. Last year about ten countries participated, and Finland was among them for the first time. The Finnish candidate was the Bear Park Godparents-project located in Kallio, a district of Helsinki. Denmark won the 2002 competition, and is hosting this years competition. The winner will be announced in an occasion which will probably be held in Copenhagen on December the 9th. The Finnish candidate will be decided by the National Council for Crime Prevention. Also in other countries participating in the competition the candidate will be chosen by a public organization responsible for crime prevention. In few countries, like the Netherlands and Sweden, a national competition will be held and the winner will get to represent it’s country. In other countries the winner will be decided using other means.

What kind of projects are admissible?

Projects that have a goal of preventing crime, reducing the fear of crime or enhancing safety are admissible for the crime prevention competition. The nature of a project to be proposed is relatively free. It can be a voluntary organization or a cooperation between officials which involves the local community. Somehow the project proposed has to be based on cooperation. For example mere development in the police activities is not within the scope of the competition. But instead the police may well be one party in a network of cooperation, as has been the case in many projects that have done well in the competition. The projects that are proposed may operate in contact with resident groups/organizations, sporting clubs, business organizations, municipal youth and social officials, the church and other religious organizations. We can be dealing with a regional safety cooperation or a residential guard and support ring. Activities may be linked to home district or city district associations, cultural organizations, practitioners of public transportation or municipal rescue units. The practices of the project should be ethically sound, and the project should not affect the quality of life adversely.

The evaluation principles for the projects

Projects that are capable of preventing the so-called everyday crime and lack of security are sought for the competition. Attention may be focused to burglaries, other thefts, vandalism, causing damage and graffitis, racist and xenophopic crime, family related violence and violent situations in restaurants, on the streets and in traffic. The project can be directed to the victims, criminals or crime situations. It can support the victims or strive to have an effect on the potential offenders, especially the young people, or it can focus on security problems of a specific area.

A successful project is connected with the community. European crime prevention competition is not interested in projects involving solely police and justice officials. The project must be based on cooperation, and it must have ties to the local community or broader civic activities. Involved in the cooperation can be for example schools, residential associations, clubs, business centers, hospitals and youth centers. Furthermore the police can also be a significant part of the cooperation.

The project must have tangible results. A project having proof of its results will do well in the competition. The results must also be affordable in respect with the contributions/input put in the project. It is not sufficient for a project to have activities of it’s own, there must be some proof that the project has influenced crime, safety or the fear of crime in a desired way. Such proof can be shown, for example, in the form of before and after data about crime or fear of crime. The proof can also consist of another kind of indicators. Evaluating the effects is all the more convincing when the methods it was performed with are valid. If, for example, in addition to the target of the project development in comparable targets can be described, one can draw more accurate conclusions about the effect the project contributed.

The project should be replicable elsewhere. The purpose of the European crime prevention competition is to bring forth and develop new methods to prevent crime and fear of crime. That is why a project in order to be awarded must be replicable elsewhere. Projects that have results in specific circumstances only or target only certain unique problems, are uninteresting in this context.

The project is innovative. The purpose of the competition is to encourage finding new ways to prevent crime and reducing the fear of crime. Innovation is also emphasised in the selection of the winner. This does not mean that the projects could not have anything familiar or bona fide in them. Nevertheless a project that uses solely widely known and established methods, does not have the same chances of winning than a project that applies novel methods.