From Cal State Fullerton
A professor in Orange County for decades now has tapped foundation assistance to help him test his innovative approaches to cutting crime in Los Angeles, including his most recent project, an online site that lets urban neighborhoods report suspicious or criminal activity to authorities in a swift and anonymous way. It's unclear by clicking on the ebusters.org link whether the crime-fighting initiative, funded by the John Randolph Haynes and the Dora Haynes Foundation, is still as active as it appears to have been. But the effort, done with the cooperation of the Los Angeles neighborhood councils, has helped apprehend bad guys and brought miscreant behavior to official attention, researchers say. The project is only one of many innovations offered by the Fullerton scholar, who, among other ideas, got cement railings installed in some high-crime, inner city neighborhoods. The barriers deterred quick car get-aways, reducing crime, and, in a collateral effect due to their installation near schools, also helped curb delinquency. He also urged merchants, victimized by thieves snatching clothing off racks, to turn their hangars in opposing directions, discouraging quick grabs of arms full of goods; he suggested that stores with big exterior windows post many sales signs so as to reduce stick-up bandits' easy scouting into their interiors.
Neighborhoods urged to report suspicious, criminal activity, anonymously, online
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