| abstract
| - Constantine's Circus As this is being written (February 2008) New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has generated an outcry from lawmakers, educators, parents and many law enforcement organization about his proposal to balance the state budget and pour fresh, warm police bodies into crime-ridden, distressed inner city communities by disembedding the New York State Police from nearly one hundred postings where they have served as School Resource Officers and other performed other functions considered "soft law enforcement." Many who are knowledgeable about the salutary effects of SRO, DARE officers, community crime prevention officers and other such titles consider the governor's proposal seriously counterproductive. Indeed, as many law enforcement agencies in New York and elsewhere acknowledge and look to the New York State Police for leadership in cutting-edge public safety strategies and tactics, the deleterious effect of the governor's proposal will have serious and pervasive consequences. As this article develops, information on crime prevention programs and initiatives that have proven effective with police agencies, neighborhoods and school districts across the land will be added. It is hoped that other Wikis with an interest and expertise in this area will share their own insights through their edits. For the momement we share one resource that is offered as a temporary means of continuing to project the New York State Police as an effective resource for schoolchildren, parents, teachers and law enforcement officers. It is a unique literary collection of crime prevention and personal safety materials that has been created as an alternative to the many bland and kid-unfreindly materials that have been so widely distributed in -- and ignored by -- the nation's schools. Under the title "Constantine's Circus" (), it has been freely available on the Internet since 1998. All are welcome to avail themselves of this resource.
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