Innovating responses to managing risk : exploring the potential of a victim-focused policing strategy

This article explores the potential benefits of developing partnerships with victims in managing threats to their personal safety via smart police use of electronic monitoring technologies. The central premise for this position is that traditional surveillance responses that seek to manage offending behaviour have limited effectiveness and do not create a sense of security for victims. Using a pilot project currently underway in Buenos Aires, we extrapolate the potential implications of a victim-focused strategy for the policing role and the effectiveness of responses to high-risk repeat offences. The pilot project seeks to enhance victims’ sense of their own safety, reduce the risk of repeat violence and develop indirect benefits for police legitimacy. Utilized in this way, there is significant potential for electronic monitoring to facilitate smarter policing and demand reduction.