Book excerpt: With this handbook, crime prevention practitioners have a guideline by which they can structure viable crime prevention programs for their communities. Every aspect of developing, organizing, and implementing strategies for urban community participation in crime prevention is covered. The handbook makes a compelling case for using local resources to the greatest extent possible. Much of crime prevention, both in the traditional sense and in the more current "watch out, help out" sense, assumes some base of community cohesion and bond on which to build. There are urban communities that do offer such a starting point, but the many communities that do not have a base of trust are real challenges for crime prevention. The following sections are included in this handbook: (1) "The Need--And Some Hope"; (2) "Understand Crime Prevention"; (3) "The Actors: Roles and Responsibilities"; (4) "Two Types of Urban Communities"; (5) "Know the Community"; (6) "Organize the Community"; (7) "Different Approaches"; and (8) "Action Planning." While the appendix on programs for children and adolescents contains much of interest to educators, the program profiles section, which presents brief descriptions of 50 urban crime prevention programs with their addresses, describes many school-based programs, including tutorial programs and afterschool programs. Five appendixes contain information on recruiting and keeping volunteers, neighborhood watch programs, programs for children and youth, and a list of resource organizations. (SLD)