Meet your Crime Prevention Specialists:

Bethel, River Road or Santa Clara Neighborhoods	Downtown, Southwest Eugene or Whiteaker Neighborhoods	Southeast, Coburg Road or Ferry Street Bridge Neighborhoods
Crime Prevention Specialist Margaret Mazzotta  (541) 682-5761	Crime Prevention Specialist Tod Schneider (541) 682-8186	Crime Prevention Specialist Steve Chambers (541) 682-5178

What is Crime Prevention?
Complementing traditional law enforcement, "Crime Prevention" fosters conditions, attitudes and behaviors that promote a safer community. Prevention efforts take one of two tracks: preventing victimization or preventing criminalization.

Preventing Victimization
These types of programs empower citizens to become less vulnerable to criminals. Examples include Neighborhood Watch,  Personal Safety presentations, property marking and home or business safety inspections.

Preventing Criminalization
These programs focus on identifying high-risk individuals and steering them in a pro-social direction. The effort spent to help potential "career criminals" find a better path early can save the community years of criminality and law enforcement effort and expense later.
EPD helps prevent criminalization by working with school education programs, the City’s recreation programs, Teen Court, our Safer Schools program, and by collaborating with social service agencies throughout the community.

The Crime Prevention Triangle
Many crime prevention theorists refer to a "crime prevention triangle" of risk, opportunity and desire. We reduce the risk of victimization, while increasing the risk of being caught; we reduce the opportunity for victimization, while increasing the opportunity for fitting into society; and we reduce the desire to commit crimes, while building the desire to play a constructive role in society.

For more information, call (541) 682-5137 or e-mail the Eugene Police Crime Prevention Unit.

This page last updated 7/7/06