Situational Crime Prevention

Note of Caution

  • Course may contain distressing materials (case studies, multimedia, etc.).
  • Advise lecturer if distress occurs.

Lecture Outline

  • Crime prevention
  • Crime prevention and environmental design
  • Situational Crime Prevention
  • Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

Crime Prevention

  • Traditional criminal justice focuses on:
    • Post-crime actions: Police, Courts, Corrections.
  • Crime prevention: A proactive approach to stop crime before it happens (Zhong, 2008).
  • Definition by Van Dijk (1990):
    • "Crime prevention is the total of all policies, measures, and techniques outside the criminal justice system aiming at reducing damages caused by acts defined as illegal."
Targets of Crime Prevention Techniques
  • Crime itself.
  • Behaviors associated with disorder.
  • Reduction of harm or fear regarding crime.
  • Strengthening community cohesion and social control.
  • Reduction of individual risk factors.
  • Increasing protective factors for individuals.

Environmental Design

Defensible Space (Newman, 1972)
  • Higher crime rates in high-density housing.
  • Crime prevention through community responsibility and ownership.
  • Offenders less likely to commit crimes in monitored, communal areas.
  • Defensible space refers to sociophysical environments that encourage ownership and surveillance.
Features of Defensible Space
  • Smaller communities.
  • Sense of ownership among residents.
  • Natural surveillance and community involvement.
  • Contributes to a safer environment.
Empirical Support
  • Research indicates defensible space reduces crime and fear of crime, particularly in residential areas (Siegel & Worrall, 2012).
  • Less effective in commercial or mixed-use areas.

Broken Windows Theory

Overview
  • Developed by Wilson and Kelling (1982) inspired by Newman’s work.
  • Broken windows symbolize disorder and weakness; foster criminal behavior.
  • An ordered environment deters crime by conveying that criminal acts will be met with a response.
  • Minor disorder can escalate into major crime if not addressed.
Implementation in Urban Areas
  • Adopted in cities like New York: cleaning graffiti, repairing broken windows, enforcing zero tolerance for minor crimes.
  • Resulted in declines in crime rates during the 1990s and 2000s.
  • Critics argue declines in crime occurred in cities without similar policies.
  • Debate remains on the connection between minor and major crime (Siegel & Worrall, 2012).

Situational Crime Prevention

Definition and Strategy Framework
  • A collection of approaches to decrease opportunities for crime (Cornish & Clarke, 2003).
  • Based on rational choice theories: Crimes are rational decisions influenced by environmental factors (Clarke, 1992).
  • Five main strategies:
    1. Increase effort needed to commit crime.
    2. Increase risks of being caught.
    3. Reduce attractive rewards.
    4. Reduce provocation for crime.
    5. Remove excuses for criminal behavior.
Increase Effort
  • Crime tends to be opportunistic; if difficulty increases, legal activities may be preferred.
  • Techniques:
    • Target hardening.
    • Controlling access.
    • Controlling tools/weapons.
Increase Risks
  • Increased perceived risks of punishment can deter potential offenders.
  • Techniques:
    • Enhance natural and artificial surveillance.
    • Maximize visibility in public areas.
    • Increase presence of guardians.
Reduce Rewards
  • The likelihood of crime diminishes if rewards are minimal or non-existent.
  • Techniques:
    • Remove valuable items from accessible areas.
    • Render stolen items useless.
Reduce Provocation
  • Identifying immediate triggers for crime can prevent criminal events (Cornish & Clarke, 2003).
  • Techniques:
    • Mitigate stressors (e.g., controlling crowds).
    • Curfews for unsupervised teenagers.
Remove Excuses
  • Minimize rationalizations for committing crimes.
  • Techniques:
    • Designated smoking areas, sufficient waste disposal, road signs, controlling alcohol access.
Overall Goal
  • To increase costs while decreasing rewards associated with crime, leading to successful applications in various crime situations.
  • Remains popular with government officials despite debates about responsibility placement.

Evaluating Situational Crime Prevention

  • Evidence supporting situational prevention strategies is strong (Cornish & Clarke, 2003).
  • Challenges include unintended consequences, such as:
    • Escalation and facilitation of crime.
    • Carelessness and disregard for user needs.

Displacement vs Diffusion of Benefits

Displacement Criticism
  • A common criticism; suggests that if crime prevention measures are too effective, criminals may simply move to other areas.
Diffusion of Benefits
  • Evidence indicates diffusion of benefits is more common than displacement, where prevention efforts in one area positively affect neighboring areas (Clarke, 2008).
  • Examples: Speed cameras and drink-driving initiatives.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

Key Features
  • Emphasizes urban design's link to crime reduction.
  • Core features include:
    • Maximizing visibility.
    • Encouraging positive social interaction.
    • Combines environmental theories and situational crime prevention.
Conceptual Framework (CPTED)
  • Components:
    • Territoriality.
    • Surveillance (natural, formal, mechanical - CCTV, lighting).
    • Access control.
    • Activity support.
    • Image and target hardening.
Territoriality
  • Strategies create ownership and discourage crime through barriers that define public vs. private spaces.
Surveillance
  • Increases perceived monitoring, making crime less likely.
  • Research on effectiveness is mixed; lighting can reduce fear of crime and improve informal social control.
Access Control
  • Reduces access to potential crime targets, increasing perceived risk of detection.
  • Techniques: Gates, barriers, and access codes.
Activity Support
  • Encourages legitimate use of spaces, potentially conflicting with crime penetration by increasing foot traffic.
Image
  • Maintaining a positive physical environment aligns with the broken windows theory.
Target Hardening
  • Increases the effort required for an offender by implementing physical barriers (e.g., gates, fences).

Evaluating CPTED

  • Widely adopted with mixed evaluations.
  • Some features are supported by research; however, evaluating specific effective components remains challenging.
  • Concerns exist regarding the potential for creating a "fortress mentality," which can suppress community interaction and increase fear.