Build a Personal Crime Prevention Plan

How to build a crime prevention plan

Start with a failed control or unclear decision

A useful plan begins with something observable: a door that does not latch, a payment request nobody verifies separately, a closing shift without a missed check-in rule, or a public route with no clear owner for a repair. Broad concern becomes actionable only when the condition is specific.

Assign the action, owner, and review point

Choose the smallest change that reduces meaningful exposure, name the person or role able to complete it, and set a date to check the result. Separate changes you control directly from work that belongs to a landlord, employer, service provider, or public agency.

Review the control without assigning blame

After an incident, near miss, move, staffing change, repair, or major routine change, ask whether the control worked as intended. Prevention can reduce exposure and improve response, but it cannot guarantee an outcome or make the person harmed responsible for another person's actions.

Important limit: A plan supports decisions; it does not predict every event. Use the crime prevention topic library for setting-specific guidance, then record the actions that fit in the private worksheets.