Simply put, "generating and maintaining participation is one of the major implementation
difficulties for community crime prevention programs" (Bennett, 1998, p. 32).
How will we get the community to play an active role? Crime control is a public good.
In principle, we would like to reduce crime rather than increase it, but we would also
like to reduce the costs (time, effort, money) of fighting crime rather than increase
them. The best strategy for individuals is, therefore, to free ride on the crime prevention
efforts of others. Unfortunately, when we all depend on others to do the work, nothing
gets done. Self-interest overwhelms the public good. The fundamental question is: How
can we get people to participate in crime control activities when it is not in their immediate
self-interest to do so?