For some time now, we have recognised that police cannot be everywhere. More so than ever, law enforcement agencies require the cooperation and assistance of the community in order to control crime. This is especially the case in the climate of fiscal austerity which will be a fact of life for the foreseeable future. Consequently, creative law enforcement planners have begun to think about new ways in which resources and energies outside the public sector may be harnessed in furtherance of public safety.
This Trends and Issues paper identifies a number of ways in which non-governmental institutions may contribute to criminal justice. Such approaches are not totally without downside risk; they can, however, enable law enforcement and other agencies of criminal justice to achieve more with less.