Communicating Crime Reduction

Taking the message into the community

Part of an integrated strategy 

You should see public events as being an important part of a planned communication strategy.  As well as being aware of the benefits you need to know their limitations.

The following diagrams illustrate the way in different media play different roles in reaching target audience with messages of varying complexity.  Advertising is very effective at reaching a large audience, but the message it conveys must be simple. Events on the other hand generally reach a small, though precisely targeted, audience, but because of the face to face contact  can convey messages of huge complexity – addressing the needs and concerns of the individuals concerned. The exception to this rule is at very large public events such as country fairs, where the presence of your stand in a prominent site, can convey a simple message to a wide range of people who may not even venture close, let alone enter into face to face contact.

Attending public events can be resource intensive for short periods of time. It is important to plan ahead and identify which opportunities are most likely to assist your overall strategy.

An integrated approach is needed, taking account of other outreach activity, media and publicity campaigns.  As in the commercial world, the ideal communication strategy combines an effective mix of high profile campaigns and media coverage, reinforced by the personal contact and immediate local impact of a distinctive community presence.

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