Local Safety Contracts: Profiling a Multidisciplinary and Multilevel Cooperation for Crime Prevention

Since the 2009s political framework which promoted a paradigm shift from a reactive to a preventive model of proximity security, Portugal has been integrating new planning policies for crime prevention. Concerns over crime statistics, perceptions of fear and urban and social vulnerabilities have led to the emergence of multidisciplinary mechanisms that address and regulate territorial inequalities. In this context, the Portuguese Local Safety Contracts have been promoted as an instrument to guide public policies, participation strategies and local integration. At the core is an institutional cooperation between the Central and Local Administration which allows sharing accountability, along with further liaisons with security forces and services, local entities and communities, although a critique may be made that it is still very limited to the institutional sphere. Consequently, this chapter presents the cross-sectional perspective within Local Safety Contracts. Considering various dimensions including security, demographics, education, health, employment, housing and social protection, a qualitative comparison is made on the preventive measures and initiatives established by each relevant group of actors in the Contracts. Conclusions dwell on the multidisciplinary and multilevel facets of the Contracts, and their relationship to place-based initiatives of security and prevention in urban contexts.KeywordsCrime preventionLocal Safety ContractsMultidisciplinaryMultilevel cooperationPreventive measuresPortugal