1. Define "crime" and "crime prevention."
2. Prepare a notebook of newspaper and other clippings that addresses crime and crime prevention efforts in your community.
3. Do the following:
   1. Talk to a store owner or manager about the impact of crime on the way the store is run and how crime affects prices.
   2. Talk with a school teacher, principal, or school officer about the impact of crime in your school.
   3. Explain what a neighborhood watch is and how it can benefit your neighborhood.
   4. Define white-collar crime and explain how it affects all citizens of the United States.
4. Discuss the following with your counselor:
   1. The role of a sheriff's department or police department in crime prevention
   2. The role of citizens, including youth, in crime prevention
   3. Gangs and their impact on the community
   4. When and how to report a crime
   5. The role and value of laws in society
5. Do the following:
   1. Inspect your neighborhood for opportunities that may lead to crime. Learn how to do a crime prevention survey.
   2. Using the checklist in the Crime Prevention Merit Badge pamphlet, conduct a security survey of your home and discuss the results with your family.
6. Teach your family or patrol members how to protect themselves from crime at home, at school, in your community, and while traveling.
7. Visit a jail or detention facility. Discuss your experience with your counselor.
8. Discuss with your counselor the purpose and operation of agencies in your community that help law enforcement personnel prevent crime, and how the agencies help in emergency situations.
9. Discuss the following with your counselor:
   1. How drug abuse awareness programs, such as "Drugs: A Deadly Game" help prevent crime
   2. Why alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana are sometimes called "gateway drugs" and how "gateway drugs" can lead to the use of other drugs
   3. Three resources in your city where a person with a drug problem or drug-related problem can go for help
   4. How the illegal sale and use of drugs lead to other crimes
   5. How to recognize child abuse
   6. The "three Rs" of Youth Protection

BSA Advancement ID#: 131
Source: Boy Scout Requirements, #33215E, revised 2002

return to home page

return to merit badges