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8/16/2019 Introduction to Crime Prevention
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8/16/2019 Introduction to Crime Prevention
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range of factors and circumstances that influence the lives of individuals and families as they
grow up, and of local environments, and the situations and opportunities that facilitatevictimization and offending.
-etermining what factors are associated with different types of crime can lead to thedevelopment of a set of strategies and programmes to change those factors, and prevent or reduce
the incidence of those crimes.
These underlying or causal factors are often termed risk factors. They include global changes andtrends that affect the social and economic conditions of regions and countries factors affecting
individual countries and local environments and communities those relating to the family and
close relationships and those that affect individuals. &igure + illustrate the multifaceted nature of the factors influencing crime and violence:
Figure I: Factors Influencing the Riss of Crime and Violence
Definition of Terms and Conce!ts in Crime Pre"ention
Crime !re"ention is an attempt to reduce and deter crime and criminals activities from among
possible offenders. +t is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime,
enforce the law, and maintain criminal !ustice.
rime prevention is defined not by intentions or methods, but by results. There is scientific
evidence, for example, that both schools and prisons can help prevent crime. rime prevention
programs are neither hard nor soft by definition the central "uestion is whether any programor institutional practice results in fewer criminal events than would otherwise occur.
#ituational Crime Pre"ention /%)0 is a relatively new concept that employs a preventativeapproach by focusing on methods to reduce the opportunities for crime. %) focuses on the
criminal setting and is different from most criminology as it begins with an examination of the
circumstances that allow particular types of crime. $y gaining an understanding of thesecircumstances, mechanisms are then introduced to change the relevant environments with the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminalshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_justicehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminalshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_justice
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aim of reducing the opportunities for particular crimes. Thus, %) focuses on crime prevention
rather than the punishment or detection of criminals and its intention is to make criminalactivities less appealing to offenders.
#afeguarding
Another aspect of %) that is more applicable to the cyber environment is the principle of
safeguarding. The introduction of these safeguards is designed to influence the potential
offender1s view of the risks and benefits of committing the crime. A criminal act is usually
performed if the offender decides that there is little or no risk attached to the act. 2ne of thegoals of %) is to implement safeguards to the point where the potential offender views the act
unfavourably. &or example, if a driver approaches a traffic !unction where there are speed
cameras, he3she evaluates that there is a nearly 4556 chance of being caught trying to run a redlight, and hence slows down. The use of crime scripts has been touted as a method of
administering safeguards. %cripts were originally developed in the field of cognitive science and
focus on the behavioural processes involved in rational goal*oriented behaviour. 7ence scriptshave been proposed as tool for examining criminal behaviour. +n particular the use of what is
termed a universal script has been advanced for correctly identifying all the stages in the
commission process of a crime.
#ituational Crime Pre"ention and Fraud+n computer systems that have been developed to design out crime from the environment, one of
the tactics used is risk assessment, where business transactions, clients and situations aremonitored for any features that indicate a risk of criminal activity. Credit card fraud has been
one of the most complex crimes worldwide in recent times and despite numerous prevention
initiatives, it is clear that more needs to be done if the problem is to be solved. &raudmanagement comprises a whole range of activities, including early warning systems, signs and
patterns of different types of fraud, profiles of users and their activities, security of computers
and avoiding customer dissatisfaction. There are a number of issues that make the developmentof fraud management systems an extremely difficult and challenging task, including the huge
volume of data involved the re"uirement for fast and accurate fraud detection without
inconveniencing business operations the ongoing development of new fraud to evade existingtechni"ues and the risk of false alarms
Communit$ #afet$
ommunity safety is realized through an integrated consideration of diverse harms to the public,and 'refers to the likely absence of harms from all sources, not !ust from human acts classifiable
as crimes. ommunity safety also provides a strategic viewpoint on community harms by
focusing attention towards the development of programmes that set targets to manage risks andaims to maiximise public safety.
Crime Pre"ention
rime prevention involves any activity by an individual or group, public or private, whichattempts to eliminate crime prior to it occurring or before any additional activity results. $y
drawing on the public health model, some theorists have distinguished between primary crime
prevention /universal0, secondary crime prevention /at*risk0 and tertiary crime prevention/known offenders0.
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Crime Reduction
8rime reduction is concerned with diminishing the number of criminal events and theconse"uences of crime. rime reduction is applied within the bandwidth of an available resource
input /e.g. financial input0 and needs to be considered as an action that brings net benefits, fear of
crime and the impact of other programmes that may have contributed to any specific crimereduction activity. rime reduction promotes a spirit of optimism that actions towards a problem
will reduce crime or reduce the seriousness of criminal events 9 it aims to intervene directly in
the events and their causes.
Crime Control
8rime control considers that crime has already happened and that some management of these
criminal activities is re"uired to ensure that it does not spiral out of control. +t points to the needfor maintenance of a problem, one where crime is keep to a tolerable level, and not to a situation
where crime can be prevented
#trategies %!!roaches to Crime Pre"ention
rime )revention programs or strategies target changes in community infrastructure, culture, or
the physical environment in order to reduce crime. The diversity of approachesincludes neighbourhood watch, community policing, urban or physical design, and
comprehensive or multi*disciplinary efforts. These strategies may seek to engage residents,community and faith*based organizations, and local government agencies in addressing the
factors that contribute to the community(s crime, delin"uency, and disorder.
De"elo!mental
2ften known as early intervention, developmental crime prevention seeks to address the earlycauses of criminality. ;educing community and individual risk factors and increasing protective
factors, help to prevent crime later in life. The most celebrated examples of developmental crime
prevention include parenting programs, school enrichment initiatives, pre*school regimes andimprovements in transition to school arrangements.
Communit$ocial%trengthening neighbourhoods helps prevent crime.
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neighbourhoods, areas within a city, or small villages or towns, or in some cases groups of
citizens with particular concerns.
#ituational Pre"ention
%topping the opportunities for crime is an effective way of preventing crime. +ncreasing the risksof detection, reducing the rewards for offending and increasing the difficulty of offending are all
ways to prevent crime. %ituational crime prevention can be as simple as installing locks and
alarms, increasing surveillance through lighting and making buildings harder to enter damage or
hide near.
Situational crime prevention covers approaches that aim to reduce the opportunities for people to
commit crimes, to increase the risks and costs of being caught and to minimize the benefits.
+t aims to prevent the occurrence of crimes by reducing opportunities, increasing risks of being
apprehended and minimizing benefits, including through environmental design, and by providingassistance and information to potential and actual victims. There are five specific categories of
situational prevention strategies have been identified:
• Those that increase the effort of offenders
• Those that increase the risks for offenders
• Those that reduce the rewards for offenders
• Those that reduce the provocation to offend
• Those that remove the excuses for offending
%ituational techni"ues are designed to be directed at highly specific forms of crime, and assume
that would*be offenders make rational decisions about the potential risks and rewards of breaking
the law. They involve the management, design or manipulation of the immediate environment in
a systematic and permanent way. %uch techni"ues include designing public spaces or housing tomake it more difficult for people to break e"uipment or enter buildings without permission, or
marking products so that they can be identified if they are stolen.
2ther examples include the use of closed*circuit television to protect car parks or the
development of pedestrian pavements, gardens and seats in a public area to encourage greater
public use, with increased surveillance of that public space. %ituational crime prevention isclosely associated with environmental crime prevention and crime prevention through
environmental design, which is more specifically concerned with changes to the built
environment or landscape.
Ph$sical Pre"ention
)hysical prevention was oriented to removing the physical opportunities to commit crime. The
police started giving out free crime prevention advice relating to locks and bolts while localauthorities with substantial public housing stock obtained funding under the government1s %afer
ities programme for investment in such things as improved street lighting, removing badly lit
areas, video phone entry systems in housing estates, and, during the 4>>5s, T? becameincreasingly popular. There were some bold architectural experiments such as removing the
walkways between blocks of high*rise apartments /seen as eliminating the escape routes for
burglars0 and discussions about the design of housing estates to maximise the level of 1naturalsurveillance1 /e.g. apartment blocks grouped into little courtyards so that anyone looking out of a
window could survey the entire area0
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#ocial Pre"ention
%ocial prevention was oriented to strengthening communities and restoring informal surveillance
and social control of crime. This involved neighbourhoods taking a measure of responsibility for
their security. The conservative government, from its standpoint of stressing individualresponsibilities, tended to think of communities only as groups of individuals, such as residents
and house owners concerned with the upkeep of their property. The notion of community groups
debating and participating in the implementation of crime prevention policy was certainly not a
priority. The government therefore naturally favoured such schemes which reinforced the role of the police as the leading agency.
2ften, it is discovered that police and local residents might have "uite different ideas about crime priorities in the area. )olice might think they 1know1 what the most important crimes in an area
are. They would base their data on public re"uests for police assistance and reported crimes. $ut
certain crimes might be exaggerated. &or example car and vehicle crime might constitute a high proportion of reported crime for reasons of insurance.
ommunity groups were able to point out that things such as domestic violence, racial attacks,fear of the streets late at night by elderly residents and workers such as nurses coming home
from late shifts, were actually considered more important but were less reported to the police because people !ust didn1t think the police would do much about these issues anyway.
Reintegration Programmes
rime prevention through reintegration refers to all programmes that work with children, young
people or adults already involved in the criminal !ustice system, including those in custody andreturning to the community. Those convicted of offences run the greatest risk of re*offending,
given that they have already broken the law, have few opportunities and skills to pursue
legitimate non*criminal lifestyles, and may have strong links with other offenders and offendinglifestyles. )roviding them with life and !ob skills, training, education, alternative lifestyles and
role models and good support and housing in the community are all ways to assist with their
reintegration. )rogrammes in prison may help to prepare them for release by providing themwith new work skills, for example, or increasing their educational levels and social skills,
including the ability to mediate conflict situations, and through the use of other restorative
approaches.
)rogrammes may take place in the community, or in halfway houses or sheltered homes that
provide safe accommodation and in*house support and advice, and may include apprenticeship
programmes, !ob*creation schemes, life*skills training, microcredit facilities and long*termsupport. )rogrammes that teach conflict resolution skills or use restorative !ustice approaches,
such as victim*offender mediation or family or community group conferencing, are other
examples of ways in which offenders can be assisted in returning to civil society. These are all
examples of crime prevention focusing on re*integration, with the overall aim of preventing re*offending.
'a( Enforcement&Criminal
)ustice
The form of crime prevention most commonly understood is associated with the criminal !ustice
system: police, courts and prisons. ;esearch tends to suggest that these measures are only partially successful. These measures work best when accompanied by the other models. =ore
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police, improved arrest rates, harsher penalties and rehabilitation in and upon release from prison
are some of the common strategies associated with the criminal !ustice system.
Com*ining Crime Pre"ention %!!roaches
@o one approach /or underlying theory of intervention0 is inherently better than the others. All of them have advantages and disadvantages. %ome social development approaches can be long*term
and re"uire commitment and investment continuing over a number of years. ommunity or
locally based approaches can re"uire considerable patience with the difficulties of engaging
citizens in positive ways, or maintaining the momentum of pro!ects. They are more difficult toevaluate, so clear and rapid results from interventions may be hard to identify.
%ituational prevention has often been criticized for focusing too much on opportunistic crime andtarget*hardening techni"ues or surveillance, /because it can displace crime and disorder to other
areas0 for encouraging une"ual access to security /for example, with the development of private
space and gated communities0 and for failing to tackle the social or economic causes of crime problems. %ome of the recent developments in situational prevention have focused on better use
of regulations, such as municipal and local by*laws and their enforcement, and this is seen as a
valuable tool that encourages businesses or local residents to change and regulate their own behaviours.
@o specific crime prevention approach should be considered superior to the others. ;ather, any
approach selected should form part of a strategic and balanced plan, and the advantages anddisadvantages of each approach in a particular context should be considered.
Thus, a pro!ect in a city neighbourhood, for example, may combine a range of initiatives such aschanges to traffic layout, better lighting, employing and training young people to act as guardians
and local mediators, providing support to low income families and providing better recreation
facilities and opportunities in disadvantaged residential apartments.
2verall, as figure ++ illustrates, these four broad categories are all aspects of the overall practice
of crime prevention, and provide a menu of approaches from which to select when developing anoverall strategy. They offer a range of short* and longer term responses to crime problems. All of
them offer valuable options, and have different advantages and disadvantages.
Figure II: Different %!!roaches to Crime Pre"ention
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Timing of crime !re"ention strategies
%pecific terms are sometimes used to refer to the stages at which crime prevention programmescan be applied, regardless of the approach used. The public health inspired typology, using the
terms primary, secondary and tertiary prevention to reflect the stages of /possible0 entry into the
criminal !ustice system, is still commonly used, but does not fully reflect the range of issuesinvolved in preventing crime and developing safe communities:
• )rimary prevention refers to programmes or initiatives aimed at those who have never
been involved in the criminal !ustice system, such as programmes to educate or alert the
general public or young people about domestic violence or bullying in schools.• %econdary prevention refers to programmes specifically targeted to children and young
people who are identified by the social services, educational or !ustice systems as being at
risk of involvement in crime
• Tertiary prevention refers to programmes for those who are in the criminal !ustice system
and3or returning to the community, with the aim of preventing re*offending.
Crime !re"ention and communit$ safet$
2ne of the most common assumptions about crime prevention is that it can be clearly separated
from other areas of activity, and that it is restricted to academia, or solely the province of the
police and !ustice system. +n fact, as observers have often pointed out, many interventions thathelp to prevent crime are called something else, whether early childhood intervention,
educational and employment support, drug treatment or urban renewal.
rime prevention is not the only term commonly in use internationally. +n different contexts and
countries, other terms such as safety and security, crime reduction and community safety are
often used. The term community safety is commonly used to refer to the broader range of issues
that must be tackled to promote safer cities or communities, and with outcomes that bring benefits beyond an absence of crime:
rime prevention has been deemed a police term, while community safety is preferred in local
authorities in $ritain to signify a broader set of interests in crime conse"uences.
Thus, what is important, regardless of the terminology preferred, is the use of a strategic
approach that enables policymakers and practitioners to tailor interventions to the problems theyconfront, selecting from a wide range of interventions, finding a balance between the need for
short*term and longer*term outcomes, as well as protecting human rights.
#ustaina*le crime !re"ention
rime prevention can also be linked to the notions of sustainable development and sustainable
livelihoods, in the sense that it should meet the needs of the present, without compromising those
of future generations. This is especially relevant in middle*and low*income countries. #ffortsshould be aimed at increasing the capacities and resources of populations, providing
opportunities for the next generation and helping to increase intergenerational capital. %ustaining
crime prevention strategies beyond the life of a overnment is an important part of this process.
The costs of crime and the *enefits of crime !re"ention
As indicated above, investing in prevention programmes saves money. &or example, the costs of prevention programmes have been shown to be lower in the long run than those of criminal
!ustice interventions.
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The criminal !ustice system is very costly to maintain in all countries, so any reductions in rates
of crime and in the numbers of people processed through the courts and prisons are likely to saveon policing, prosecution, defense and court costs, and the considerable expenses of running
prison and parole systems. Apart from the criminal !ustice costs of crime, there are many long*
term social and economic costs associated with lost productivity, and the social and welfareservices incurred by offenders and their families, for example, when breadwinners are
imprisoned or children taken into care. The costs of crime also include the costs for victims, in
terms of their health and their ability to work or go to school or to care for their own families.
#stimates of the costs of crime for victims and society in terms of health, lost earnings and productivity suggest that these can be even higher than the criminal !ustice costs.
&inally, all expenditure on protective security such as technological systems, private policing or fencing and barriers must be included in the costs of crime.
Government leadershipAll levels of government should play a leadership role in developing effective and humane crime
prevention strategies and in creating and maintaining institutional frameworks for their
implementation and review.
Socio-economic development and inclusionrime prevention considerations should be integrated into all relevant social and economic
policies and programmes, including those addressing employment, education, health, housingand urban planning, poverty, social marginalization and exclusion. )articular emphasis should be
placed on communities, families, children and youth at risk.
Cooperation/partnerships
ooperation3partnerships should be an integral part of effective crime prevention, given the
wide*ranging nature of the causes of crime and the skills and responsibilities re"uired to addressthem. This includes partnerships working across ministries and between authorities, community
organizations, non*governmental organizations, the business sector and private citizens.
Sustainability/accountabilityrime prevention re"uires ade"uate resources, including funding for structures and activities, in
order to be sustained. There should be clear accountability for funding, implementation and
evaluation and for the achievement of planned results.
Knowledge base
rime prevention strategies, policies, programmes and actions should be based on a broad,multidisciplinary foundation of knowledge about crime problems, their multiple causes and
promising and proven practices.
Human rights/rule of law/culture of lawfulnessThe rule of law and those human rights which are recognized in international instruments to
which =ember %tates are parties must be respected in all aspects of crime prevention. A culture
of lawfulness should be actively promoted in crime prevention.
Interdependency
@ational crime prevention diagnoses and strategies should, where appropriate, take account of links between local criminal problems and international organized crime.
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ifferentiationrime prevention strategies should, when appropriate, pay due regard to the different needs of
men and women and consider the special needs of vulnerable members of society.
Im!ortance of Crime Pre"ention
+n Africa, for example, the impact of crime on development has been clearly outlined. #veryday
crime destroys confidence among citizens as well as businesses, affects "uality of life, adversely
affects employment and productivity, destroys human and social capital, discourages investmentand undermines the relationship between citizens and their overnments.
Effects of Crime on #ociet$
rime is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as an act or the commission of an act that is
forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the
offender liable to punishment by that law.
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• +t shows for example that when men do not lead, the women will more than likely step in.
They will do a good !ob, but they will not be able to stem the tide of the decline andeventually, society will go downhill so much that they become victims to all kinds of
atrocities.
• Enowing the conse"uences of our actions and lack thereof, is the beginning of the light
and beginning of a new day on this earth.
The effects of crime on society include feelings of fear that disrupt the population(s sense of
unity, the breakdown of social associations due to habitual avoidance of certain places, anunwillingness to go out at night and damage to the image of the community. The perception of a
community as crime ridden can deter people from going there and induce residents to move
away. This causes damage to the economy.
Crime destroys Africa’s social and human capital ! rime degrades "uality of life and can force
skilled workers overseas victimization, as well as fear of crime, interferes with the development
of those who remain. rime impedes access to possible employment and educationalopportunities, and it discourages the accumulation of assets.
Crime drives business away from Africa! +nvestors see crime in Africa as a sign of social
instability, driving up the cost of doing business. orruption is even more damaging, perhaps thesingle greatest obstacle to development. &urther, tourism, of large and growing importance to
Africa, is an industry especially sensitive to crime.
Crime undermines the State! rime and corruption destroy the trust relationship between
people and the %tate, undermining democracy. Aside from direct losses of national funds due to
corruption, crime can corrode the tax base as the rich bribe tax officials and the poor recede intothe shadow economy. orruption diverts resources into graft*rich public works pro!ects, at a cost
to education and health services.
The fear of crime in any society is as damaging as the act of crime itself. +t is emotionally taxing
for the people who live in fear in high*crime communities. The fear of crime can negativelyaffect the residents1 behavior, reduce community organization and deter new businesses fromwanting to open in the area for fear of being robbed. This adds to the economic woes of an area
heavy with crime. The law enforcement organizations of high*crime areas generally utilize an
increased visibility, but this often backfires in low*income areas, causing the population to see
the police as the enemy.
2ther problems include the fact that victims of crime must deal with increased fear and trauma
afterward. #ven for those who have not been a victim of a crime, fear can vary depending uponthe demographics of the person. Age is a factor because the elderly are more vulnerable. ender
is a factor because women express higher levels of fear of crime than men do. )eople living in
non*white neighborhoods are more fearful of crime that those living in predominantly whiteareas, explains &lourish +tulua*Abumere. rime can even change the appearance of
neighborhoods, since gates and window guards detract from the aesthetic look of the community.
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RO'E OF N%TION%' PO'ICE #ERVICE+ PRI#ON#+ P%R'I%MENT )UDICI%R. %ND
COMMUIT.
Legislative Reforms
In order to realise the envisaged reforms, the following Acts of Parliament
have been enacted:-
•
The National Police Service Act 2011;• The National Police Service Commission Act 2011; and
• The Independent Policing Oversight Authority Act 2011.
The Police Role
The )olice Act provides for the functions, organization and discipline of the Eenya )olice
service and the Eenya )olice ;eserve, and for matters incidental thereto. According to section 4F
of the Act, the )olice service is established in the ;epublic of Eenya to perform the followingfunctions:
• =aintenance of law and order
• The preservation of peace• The protection of life and property
• The prevention and detection of crime
• The apprehension of offenders
• The enforcement of all laws and regulations with which it is charged
The Role of Prisons
+deally a man is born free and the so!ourn in life is a social drama in pursuit of en!oyment of that
freedom. The social norms from onset reinforce this being 8free status. This is so until the long
arm of the law of the land catches up with transgressors and the law breakers and for once the
freedom is taken away. The punishment as often is the case is automatic exclusion and separationfrom the rest of society and being placed under charge of a correctional institution.
Cithin the institutions are well rehearsed and regimented roles, rules and regulations. Theoffender of necessity has to ad!ust to the new status and fit into a new life *life inside the prison
walls. This process of fitting into a new life is gradual, thorough and ends up abolishing the
individualism and privacy * values that one has long been socialised into.
)risons by design are places where offenders are sent down as punishment. They are meant to
epitomize both the retributive and deterrence principles of sentencing. The architecture and
social aloofness further reinforces this feeling of punishment. Also prisons are places where
hardships are inevitably occasioned whether by design, deliberate or otherwise. The deprivationof personal liberties, the denials of the basic choices in life, the withholding and withdrawal of
basic privileges. All the basic issues that find expression in ordinary life are controlled andsparingly provided.
Role of )udiciar$
The duties of the !udiciary include carrying out investigations, instituting prosecutions, so that
the !udiciary and the courts apply the law correctly, and ensuring that !udgments have been
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carried out. +n addition, many public prosecutors are assigned to key positions in the =inistry of
Dustice, for example, as vice*minister of !ustice and director*general of the riminal Affairs$ureau.
Crime !re"ention a!!roaches+ theor$ and mechanisms
Crime prevention refers to the range of strategies that are implemented by individuals,
communities, businesses, non*government organisations and all levels of government to target
the various social and environmental factors that increase the risk of crime, disorder and
victimisation. There are a variety of different approaches to crime prevention that differ in termsof the focus of the intervention, the types of activities that are delivered, the theory behind how
those activities are designed to bring about the desired results and the mechanisms that are
applied.
The environmental approach, which includes situational crime prevention techni"ues and
broader urban planning initiatives, aims to modify the physical environment to reduce theopportunities for crime to occur. The social approach focuses on the underlying social and
economic causes of crime in the community /e.g. lack of social cohesion, limited access to
housing, employment, education and health services0 and on limiting the supply of motivatedoffenders, and includes developmental prevention and community development models. The
criminal !ustice approach refers to various programs delivered by police, the courts andcorrections that aim to prevent recidivism among those people who have already engaged in
offending behaviour and who have come into contact with the criminal !ustice system.
Environmental crime prevention
The environmental approach seeks to change the specific characteristics of the environment thatmay cause criminal events to occur. This includes both situational approaches to crime
prevention and broader planning initiatives, and aims to reduce crime by designing and3or
modifying the physical environment to reduce the opportunities for crime to occur.
#ituational crime !re"ention
%ituational crime prevention is based upon the premise that crime is often opportunistic and aimsto modify contextual factors to limit the opportunities for offenders to engage in criminal
behaviour. %ituational prevention comprises a range of measures that highlight the importance of
targeting very specific forms of crime in certain circumstances. This involves identifying,
manipulating and controlling the situational or environmental factors associated with certaintypes of crime. +t is also based upon assumptions regarding the nature of offending and of
offenders. Underlying the situational approach are four key elements, including:
• three key opportunity theories routine activity, crime pattern and rational choice theory
• an action research methodology that involves analysing of specific crime problems and
contributing factors, identifying possible responses, selecting and implementing of the most
appropriate or promising response and evaluating and disseminating the results
• a classification of GH situational prevention techni"ues and
• a growing body of evaluated pro!ects and examples of different types of strategies
The focus of the three key opportunity theories is actually "uite different. Under routine activity
theory, three critical elements must occur simultaneously for a criminal event to take place amotivated offender, a suitable target and the absence of a capable guardian. The theory seeks to
explain how societal changes can impact upon opportunities for crime0. rime pattern theory
seeks to explain the influence of communities and neighbourhoods, and focuses on how
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offenders may come across opportunities for crime in the course of their everyday lives. ;ational
choice theory has a more individualistic focus and explores the decision*making processes thatlead to an offender choosing to become involved in crime or specific criminal events, including
weighing up the relative risks and rewards associated with offending.
%ituational crime prevention interventions include activities such as improved security throughstrengthening locks and improving surveillance. ornish and larke have classified GH
situational crime prevention techni"ues into five broad categories that are based on the
mechanisms underlying the different methods:
• increasing the effort involved in offending• increasing the risk associated with offending
• reducing the rewards that come from committing a crime
• reducing situational factors that influence the propensity of an individual to offend and
• removing excuses for offending behaviour.
• This relative simple classification scheme provides a useful framework for describing the
range and variety of situational techni"ues on offer to those working in crime prevention.
• +mportant lessons for the implementation of situational crime prevention pro!ects, include
that it:
• works most effectively when it is targeted at a specific crime problem in a specific
context• involves a thorough and systematic analysis of current and emerging crime problems and
their causes and risk factors that is based on accurate and wide*ranging sources of
information and has analysts with the capacity to interpret the data
• re"uires appropriate consultation mechanisms to seek input from stakeholders and the
community into the development of strategies that are likely to re"uire their action,
involvement or cooperation and
• re"uires strong pro!ect management skills, a comprehensive implementation plan that
describes the key stages in pro!ect delivery and the interrelationships between different
but complementary interventions, and a committee made up of representatives from key
stakeholder groups to oversee pro!ect development, implementation and review
Ur*an design and !lanning
$roader planning initiatives include Crime Pre"ention Through En"ironmental Design/)T#-0 and urban renewal pro!ects, and seek to reduce the opportunities for crime through thedesign and management of the built and landscaped environment. rime prevention is being
recognised as an increasingly important consideration in urban regeneration programs. This
includes strategies that involve modifying the built environment to create safer places that are
less crime prone or can make people feel safer /such as by designing public spaces thatencourage large numbers of users and provide greater natural surveillance, or by designing
pedestrian thoroughfares that are well lit and do not create places for potential offenders to hide0.
)T#- has a ma!or influence on crime prevention policy and practice in Australia and in other parts of the world, and a number of state, territory and local governments now have specific
planning policies that incorporate )T#- principles or guidelines.
#xperience has shown that )T#-:
• needs to be integrated as part of a broader crime prevention strategy targeting other risk
factors and neighbourhood problems, which re"uires community involvement, partnerships
and the coordination of activities
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• is underpinned by a number of important principles such as natural surveillance, territoriality,
sustainability and vulnerability of public spaces, and these principles should drive designdecisions
• should be focused at both the macro /overall design of the built environment0 and micro level
/finer details0
• should be applied to both public initiatives and private developments, and involves careful
management of the relationship between public and private space
•
re"uires a balance between competing interests, such as between privacy and security and• re"uires the involvement of different design*related professional disciplines
Social crime prevention
;ather than focusing on the physical environment, social crime prevention is most commonly
directed at trying to influence the underlying social and economic causes of crime, as well asoffender motivation. This approach tends to include crime prevention measures that take some
time to produce the intended results. This may include action to improve housing, health and
educational achievement, as well as improved community cohesion through community
development measures.
De"elo!mental crime !re"ention-evelopmental crime prevention initiatives are becoming increasingly popular in Australia.There has been considerable investment in early intervention programs in Australia, many of
which do not have explicit crime prevention ob!ectives. -evelopmental crime prevention is
based on the premise that intervening early in a young person(s development can producesignificant long*term social and economic benefits. Chile there is evidence of the importance of
intervening early in life, the focus of developmental crime prevention is on intervening early at
any of a number of critical transition points in a person(s development to lead them on a pathwayto prevent future offending. Transition points occur around birth, the preschool years, transition
from primary to high school and from high school to further education or the workforce.
#arly intervention aims to address risk factors and enhance protective factors that impact uponthe likelihood that a young person will engage in future offending behaviour. ;isk and protective
factors can be categorised into child factors, family factors, school context, life events and
community and cultural factors. -evelopmental programs aim to identify measure andmanipulate risk and protective factors that research has confirmed are important in predicting
future offending. +n practical terms, developmental crime prevention involves providing basic
services or resources to individuals, families, schools or communities to minimise the impact of risk factors on the development of offending behaviours. =ost often these resources and services
are directed towards disadvantaged or 'vulnerable( families with young children.
%everal factors have been identified as contributing to the successful implementation of
developmental crime prevention initiatives, including:
•the importance of timing and intervening at critical !unctures, such as times of stress or when people are open to external influences /which may not mean early in life0
• the need to target multiple risk factors due to their cumulative impact, with bias towards
those factors regarded as having the greatest impact, and to target multiple offence types
• the need to be sensitive to the needs of the local area /including the need to be culturally
sensitive0, involve and empower the community /in decision making, as volunteers and as
paid professionals0 and identify local change agents
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• the importance of detailed assessments of community readiness /the presence of existing
partnerships and management structures, leadership stability, community engagement andsupport for and commitment to prevention0, which is a key component of programs such as
ommunities that are
• the importance of strategies to make programs accessible, keep people involved and to avoid
stigmatising at*risk young people or families
• the value of partnerships and coordination between new and existing service providers,
whether they rely on formal interagency structures or more simple arrangements and
• the re"uirement for longer term investment, as the benefits of developmental crime
prevention are not immediate.
Communit$ De"elo!ment
ommunity development is premised on the notion that changing the physical or social
organisation of communities may influence the behaviour of individuals who live there. The risk of becoming involved in crime, or being victimised, is greater in those communities that
experience high levels of social exclusion or a lack of social cohesion. Also underlying the
community development approach is the belief that crime in a particular community is not primarily or solely the result of the actions of a small number of criminogenically disposed
individuals, but the result of the coincidence of a series of structural determinants present within particular communities /e.g. differential rates of access to housing, employment, education andhealth services, among other factors.
The underlying assumption is that if these crime*promoting structural stress factors can be
relieved, reconfigured or removed, then crime will be reduced. ommunity developmentstrategies can aim to build social cohesion and address factors leading to community
disorganisation, empower communities to participate in decision*making processes, increase
resources, services and economic opportunities in disadvantaged communities or address lowlevel physical or social disorder that may be a precursor to more serious problems. ommunity
development programs that focus on strengthening informal networks and enhancing community
structures have the potential to build community capacity, which can, in turn, provideopportunities to mobilise communities to address local crime problems.
The implementation of community*wide programs has proven difficult due to the challenges of rolling out these types of programs on a broader scale, including problems associated with
engaging the wider community /or even identifying who the 'community( is0 and maintaining
their involvement. &or example, cooperation and participation can be lacking in highly
disorganised communities, who might benefit most from these types of programs. ommunitydevelopment*type programs are more likely to be effective when they:
• identify communities at need based on evidence and community consultation, and analyse
factors that may contribute to social disadvantage or exclusion
•take into consideration a community(s capacity to implement change and level of socialdisorganisation
• increase opportunities to participate and promote community involvement and consultation in
program design and decision making, as well as in the management of activities that impacton, either directly or indirectly, those social conditions believed to sustain crime in residential
settings
• encourage representation from diverse groups, particularly those community members most
at risk of being marginalised
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• coordinate efforts between agencies across government and non*government sectors to target
multiple areas of disadvantage, supported by neighbourhood regeneration
• are provided with ongoing support /including human, financial and physical resources0 and
• regularly review progress to ensure that initiatives remain on track.
Chen compared with situational or developmental approaches, there is limited evidence of theeffectiveness of efforts to modify community level factors to reduce crime.
Crime prevention mechanisms
To accurately identify and share information on the types of mechanisms used in the studies
reviewed as part of this pro!ect, a consistent and comprehensive framework was re"uired for
classifying the mechanisms underpinning the various interventions that have been evaluated.
Cithout a clear framework for their classification, it would be difficult to describe anintervention in a way that can be shared and potentially replicated in another crime prevention
strategy.
&or this reason, the on!unction of riminal 2pportunity /20 was chosen as the conceptual
framework for this review. The 2 framework has been developed to provide a common point
of reference to facilitate the effective and efficient transfer of knowledge about the principlesunderpinning the full range of prevention strategies, as well as to help inform the choice of
interventions by practitioners and policymakers. The 2 framework allows for interventions to
be classified in accordance with one or more identified precursors for crime and disorder events.These classifications take into consideration both social and environmental causes /reflecting the
range of approaches to crime prevention described above0. &or each precursor, a corresponding
principle of prevention is also identified.
7owever, the 2 does not explicitly identify the specific causal mechanisms that explain howan intervention aims to bring about the desired outcomes. The mechanism is the theory that
explains how the intervention is intended to prevent or reduce crime through targeting specific
precursors for criminal events. To overcome this limitation, the A+ has extrapolated the 2 toidentify eleven common mechanisms underpinning different prevention strategies /as shown in
Table F0.
Ta*le /: Con-unction of criminal o!!ortunit$
Immediate
!recursors to
crime or disorder
e"ent
Princi!le for !re"ention Mechanism
rime promoters
A crime promoter is someone or
something that makes crime easier to
occur. +nterventions aim to discourage
or deter promoters and awaken their conscience. This can be through naming
and shaming, civil liability, tackling a
criminal subculture, procedural controlsor market reduction
#ncourage individuals /potentialtargets or individuals who facilitate
access to targets0 to consider the
implications of their actions anddiscourage behaviour that may
create opportunities for crime to
occur and3or encourage behaviour that minimises opportunities for
crime to occur
rime preventers %ometimes the presence of people in an
area may deter offenders to from
+ntroduce or improve formal or
informal surveillance to increase the
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committing a crime. This includes
formal control /surveillance, access
control0, informal social control, self* protection or avoidance
perceived risk that committing an
offence will result in identificationor capture
Cider
environment
The aim is to make the physical
environment safer, or to make theenvironment less likely to encourage
conflict through environmental design
and management, including aiding
surveillance, resolving conflicts andsetting rules
=anipulate the physicalenvironment /built or landscape0 to
improve surveillance, define
ownership of spaces and minimise
conflict between users
Target enclosure
A 'target enclosure( is the business,
room or space /such as a car, home or shop0 that contains the target of the
crime. +nterventions include perimeter
access and security
=ake target enclosures harder to penetrate to increase the perceived
effort associated with a crime
Target person or property
)ro!ects in this category focus onstrengthening the actual target, not !ust
its surroundings. +t could include what issometimes termed 'target hardening(, or the removal of the target from a
vulnerable area.
+ncrease the perceived effort or
rewards associated with a crime bymaking targets harder to access,remove or dispose
2ffender presence
in situation
This is an activity that targets an
offender(s presence in a situation, possibly by placing restrictions on their
access to a certain area at a certain time
or by providing alternative activities. +tis trying to remove or deter potential
offenders from situations that might
result in an offence occurring
)revent potential offenders from
being able to access locations where
there are potential targets /property
or people0 or where provocation mayoccur
Anticipation of risk, effort and
reward
)eople can be influenced to commit anoffence by weighing up what they will
benefit from it, how much they are
willing to risk to commit the offence andwhat would be involved in committing
it. )ro!ects can be aimed specifically at
deterring and3or discouraging potentialoffenders by making the offence riskier,
re"uiring more effort, or have less
reward.
+ncrease the perceived risk of crime,
the perceived effort of crime or reduce the anticipated rewards of
crime to discourage potential
offenders
;esources for
crime
;estricting resources for crimeIcontrol
of weapons, tools and information on
targets and transfer of criminal
knowledge
)revent offenders from being able toaccess the resources they need in
order to commit an offence, or that
may be used as an excuse for offending behaviour
;eadiness to
offend
There could be some situations where a
person(s current life circumstance may
Alleviate /or minimise the impact
of0 stressors /relating to the
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suddenly change. This category could be
seen as targeting /often unexpected0
short*term situations for potentialoffenders /eg money problems,
relationship problems, substance use0,
including changing current lifecircumstances and conflict resolution
techni"ues
individual or environment0 that mayinfluence the behaviour of potential
offenders or that might be used as an
excuse for offending
;esources to
avoid crime
Training potential offenders in areassuch as social and work skills to target
factors that can make some people at a
greater risk than others to commitcrimes
$uild a person(s resilience to
offending by providing them withthe resources, skills, knowledge and
ability to avoid situations in which
their risk of offending might beincreased
riminality
/predisposition0
;educe known risk factors and enhanceknown protective factors through family,
school and peer groups also includes
supplying remedial treatment for thosewho have been convicted
+ntervene early at key developmental
stages to alleviate risk factors and
enhance protective factorsAddress the underlying factors that
contributed to an offender(s behaviour in the first place andsupport their transition back into the
community
%ource: Adapted from #kblom G55G
Interventions and mechanisms
This review involved categorising crime prevention interventions so that conclusions could be
drawn about their effectiveness in different contexts. +n practice, developing typologies for crime
prevention and categorising interventions is a notoriously difficult task. As illustrated above,crime prevention is a broad area that encompasses such a wide range of activity that there are
inevitably going to be interventions that don(t appear to fit within neat groupings. +t alsofre"uently involves the delivery of multiple overlapping interventions delivered in combination.There was a need to find a balance between specificity and flexibility. %pecificity was important
from the point of view of trying to provide clear guidance to policymakers and practitioners /in
this case @%C )- and local government0. Bet flexibility was necessary to ensure that evidence
can be accumulated for certain interventions and lessons learned about their application tospecific contexts. The final list of intervention types developed for this pro!ect is provided in
Appendix A /see Table A40. These intervention types were used to categorise activities delivered
as part of the evaluated strategies examined as part of this review. +t was common for crime prevention strategies reviewed for this pro!ect to involve multiple intervention types.
2nce these intervention types had been identified, it was necessary to determine the range of mechanisms through which they aim to bring about the desired results. Understanding these
mechanisms is an important step in understanding why a particular intervention is or is not
successful, why it may have been effective in one study but not another, or why it works for onetype of crime or target group and not another. As has been argued here, it is also useful in adding
value to systematic reviews, as it provides clear guidance as to what needs to happen in order for
an intervention to work and therefore assists practitioners and policymakers to determine how
best to modify and adapt interventions to different contexts.
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The range of mechanisms that can be activated by different intervention types are also describedin Appendix A. @otable in Table A4 is the potential for interventions to apply different
mechanismsIultimately dependent upon the precise nature of the intervention/s0 that are used
and the context in which they are applied. &urther, multiple interventions may be combined toactivate a single mechanism and address the same problem.