Introduction

In addition to the justice sector, prevention policies and programmes have mobilised many other local actors in developing sustainable solutions to crime and insecurity.  Partnerships in crime prevention involve local authorities from education, health, urbanism, transport, community development, along with community based organisations, women's groups, youth groups, local residents, and representatives from correctional services. While much has been done in recent years to highlight these various roles in crime prevention partnerships, less attention has been placed on the role of business. 

Furthermore, businesses have often been identified and understood as a demander of safety - those which demand protection of private property, and this view may often overshadow the other important contributions made by business in co-producing safety.

These emerging issues, perspectives, and concerns about private sector involvement in crime prevention are central to ICPC's Fifth Annual Colloquium, which will take place on the 27th and 28th October 2005 in Santiago, Chile (more).

Following from a previous issue in 2004 on the role of public and private partners in crime prevention, and helping to facilitate greater knowledge sharing and instigate further reflection and debate in this area, this month's IO edition includes: an interview with international expert, Dr. Clifford Shearing, on private security trends and issues raised for the governance of security, and an interview with Stephnie Payne, offering a practitioner perspective, detailing some of the private and public roles within a specific local crime prevention programme in a neighbourhood in Toronto. 

Finally, we include here recent additions to the tools section on business, and documentation centre which form part of ICPC's knowledge base on crime prevention and community safety.