def rename_category_for_flattening(category, category_parent=""):
    """
    Tidy name of passed category by removing extraneous characters such as '_' and '-'.
    
    :param category: string to be renamed (namely, a category of crime)
    :param category_parent: optional string to insert at the beginning of the string (in addition to other edits)
    :return: new string name for category passed
    """
    if category_parent == "":
        return category.lower().replace(" ", "_").replace("/", "").replace("(", "").replace(")", "").replace(",", "").replace(";", "_").replace("-", "")
    
    return category_parent + "_" + category.lower().replace(" ", "_").replace("/", "").replace("(", "").replace(")", "").replace(",", "").replace(";", "").replace("-", "")