Crime, Localities and the Multi-Agency Approach

The ‘multi-agency’ approach to crime prevention has received considerable attention in recent years. This paper examines both theoretical and practical aspects of multi-agency work, in the light of research conducted over two years in a small number of neighbourhoods in inner London and a Lancashire town. Two contrasting forms of conventional understanding of the multi-agency approach—the ‘benevolent’ as against the ‘conspiratorial’ thesis—are examined, and each found inadequate. Building on the evidence of research fieldwork, the paper strives for a more socially nuanced understanding which is alive to the complexities of locality-based crime prevention initiatives and of the power differentials running between different state agencies, as well as to the competing sectional interests within existing communities. Multi-agency strategies can undoubtedly have an impact on the lives of people within a locality, but these are not always the outcomes that are intended.