Crime Prevention

Introduction to Crime Prevention

• Learning outcomes:
1. Understand the definition of crime prevention used by the United Nations
2. Distinguish between key terms used in crime prevention and community safety contexts
3. Describe different crime prevention typologies
4. Apply different crime problem-solving approaches to common crime problems
5. Critically analyse ‘what works’ in crime prevention (including what constitutes evidence and the
transferability of this evidence) and identify relevant clearinghouses of such information
 Exercise: What is crime prevention?
• A home visit by an early health nurse to all new parents is provided to check on how they are managing the demands of
parenthood. Is this a crime prevention measure?
• A landscape architect makes a number of recommendations in relation to the development of a new housing estate. Some of
these recommendations include the planting of low growing vegetation at the front of all homes and the installation of a garden
bed along the front of the fences. Is this a crime prevention measure?
• The diagrams below show an anti-theft device that fits beneath tables in bars. Is this a crime prevention measure?

Source: http://www.designagainstcrime.com/projects/grippa-clips/

• Machine-readable microchips will be implanted under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of an electronic
tagging scheme. Tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home
curfews. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable personal
information about individuals, including their identities, address and offending record. Is this a crime prevention measure?
• Mandatory drug testing has been introduced in some workplaces, especially where the performance of intricate physical tasks is
required. Is this a crime prevention measure?
• The work of security personnel responsible for the management of cash-in-transit (i.e. large collection and distribution of cash to
businesses) is governed by work safety guidelines. These guidelines seek to protect security personnel involved in cash-in-transit
activities. Is this a crime prevention measure?
 Definition

The Prevention of Crime comprises:

“strategies and measures that seek to reduce the risk of crimes occurring, and their potential harmful
effects on individuals and society, including fear of crime, by intervening to influence their multiple
causes” (
https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/Handbook_on_Crime_Prevention_Guidelines_-_Making_the
m_work.pdf
)
 Terminology

v e nt i o n
me Pr e
Cr i f e t y
n it y S a
om mu
C
Crime R
e d u cti o l
n o n t ro
m e C
C r i
 Terminology
Term Definition
Community “Community safety is realized through an integrated consideration of diverse harms to the public, and ‘refers to the likely
Safety absence of harms from all sources, not just from human acts classifiable as crimes’ (Wiles and Pease, 2000). Community
safety also provides a strategic viewpoint on community harms by focusing attention towards the development of
programmes that set targets to manage risks and aims to maximise public safety” (2005:17-18)
Crime Crime prevention involves any activity by an individual or group, public or private, which attempts to eliminate crime prior
Prevention to it occurring or before any additional activity results. By drawing on the public health model, some theorists have
distinguished between primary crime prevention (universal), secondary crime prevention (at-risk) and tertiary crime
prevention (known offenders).
Crime “Crime reduction is concerned with diminishing the number of criminal events and the consequences of crime. Crime
Reduction reduction is applied within the bandwidth of an available resource input (e.g. financial input) 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 crime reduction activity. Crime reduction promotes a spirit of optimism that actions towards a problem will reduce
crime or reduce the seriousness of criminal events … it aims to intervene directly in the events and their causes” (2005: 19).
Crime “Crime control considers that crime has already happened and that some management of these criminal activities is required
Control to ensure that it does not spiral out of control. It points to the need for maintenance of a problem, one where crime is kept to
a tolerable level, and not to a situation where crime can be prevented” (2005: 18-19).

Source: Chainey, S. and Ratcliffe, J. (2005) GIS and crime mapping, Wiley and Sons,
Chester.
 Models of Prevention

“Primary crime prevention identifies conditions of the physical and social environment that
provide opportunities for or precipitate criminal acts. Here the objective of intervention is to
alter those conditions so that crimes cannot occur. Secondary crime prevention engages in
early identification of potential offenders and seeks to intervene in their lives in such a way
that they never commit criminal violation. Tertiary crime prevention deals with actual
offenders and involves intervention in their lives in such a fashion that they will not commit
further offenses” (Brantingham, P.J. and Faust, F.L. (1976) ‘A conceptual model of crime prevention’, Crime and Delinquency,
vol. 22, no. 3: 290).
 Models of Prevention

The typology proposed by Tonry and Farrington is frequently used and includes four major
prevention strategies: “law enforcement, and developmental, community, and situational
prevention” (Tonry, M. and Farrington, D. (1995) ‘Preface’, in Tonry, M. and Farrington, D. (eds) Building a Safer Society:
Strategies Approaches to Crime Prevention, Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Volume 19, The University of Chicago Press,
Chicago and London: 1-2).
 Model Explanation Examples
Developmental Often known as early intervention, developmental The most celebrated examples of developmental crime prevention
crime prevention seeks to address the early causes of include parenting programs, school enrichment initiatives like skills
criminality. Reducing community and individual risk training, pre-school regimes and improvements in transition to school
factors and increasing protective factors, help to arrangements.
prevent crime later in life.

Community / Strengthening neighbourhoods helps prevent crime. Community building activities, provision of welfare services and
Social Local communities that have strong bonds and where increasing community support groups all help to enhance the sense of
people know each other are generally less prone to community and can contribution to the prevention of crime.
experience crime. Enhancing ‘social capital’ or the
relationships between people can be beneficial in
protecting people from crime.

Situational Stopping the opportunities for crime is an effective Situational crime prevention can be as simple as installing locks and
way of preventing crime. Increasing the risks of alarms, increasing surveillance through lighting and making buildings
detection, reducing the rewards for offending and harder to enter, damage or hide near.
increasing the difficulty of offending are all ways to
prevent crime.
Law Enforcement This form of crime prevention is associated with the Problem-oriented policing can help prevent recurring problems requiring
/ Criminal criminal justice system - police, courts and prisons – a policing response through detailed analysis of crime problems and
Justice and is the most commonly understood form of crime inter-agency responses; community-oriented policing is a strategy for
prevention. encouraging the public to act as partners with the police in preventing
and managing crime; treatment programs offered through court
processes can address causes of crime; rehabilitation programs in prison
can prevent re-offending.
 Developmental Crime Prevention

‘Developmental prevention involves the use of scientific research to guide the provision of
resources for individuals, families, schools or communities to address the conditions that give
rise to antisocial behaviour and crime before these problems arise, or before they become
entrenched … Doing something about crime early, preferably before the damage is too hard to
repair, strikes most people as a logical approach to crime prevention. The twin challenges, of
course, are to identify exactly what it is in individuals, families, schools and communities that
increases the odds of involvement in crime and then to do something useful about the identified
conditions as early as possible’ (Homel, R. and Thomsen, L. (2017) Chapter 4: ‘Developmental Crime Prevention’, in Tilley,
N. and Sidebottom, A. (eds.) Handbook of Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Willan Publishing, Devon: 57).
 Risk Factors
• Risk is cumulative and risk factors are inter-related (not easy to isolate causal link)
• The most significant risk factors associated with offending:
Individual Risk Factors Family Risk Factors Environmental Risk Factors
Low intelligence and attainment Criminal or antisocial parents Growing up in a low SES status
household

Personality and temperament Large family size Associating with delinquent peers

Empathy and impulsiveness Poor parental supervision Attending high-delinquency-rate

schools
Parental conflict and Living in deprived areas
disrupted families

(Farrington, D. and Welsh, B. (2007) Saving Children From a Life of Crime, Oxford University Press, Oxford:159)
 Case Study: Elmira Home Visiting Program
• The seminal Elmira prenatal and infancy home visiting program provided support to 400 young mothers who were
single or from low socioeconomic backgrounds in the city of Elmira, New York. It intended to address issues of
poor birth outcomes, child maltreatment, welfare dependence and poor maternal life courses. Nurses visited young
mothers on a bi-weekly basis until their child reached the age of two. The home visitation sessions were focused on
providing prenatal care, baby health care and support to keep the young mothers’ lives on track, through helping
them find employment, planning for the future or linking them up with much needed services within the
community.
• Very positive outcomes emerged from the Elmira home visitation program. Participants in the home visitation
program exhibited the following outcomes in comparison the control group (Olds et al, 1999 p.44): improved
pregnancy outcomes; better parenting skills; higher maternal employment; fewer and more widely spaced
pregnancies; more mothers returned to education; less abuse and/or neglect the children; less smoking and
drinking; and by the time the children were at 15 years of age, fewer arrests and convictions (both mother and
child).
• The home visitation program was also successful in delivering considerable cost savings for the government. Every
$1USD spent on the home visitation program resulted in future savings of $4USD (Olds et al, 1999, p.56).

• Olds, David L., Henderson, Charles R., Kitzman, Harriet J., Eckenrode, John J., Cole, Robert E. and Tatelbaum, Robert C. (1999) “Prenatal and infancy
home visitation by nurses: recent findings.” Future Child vol.9, no.1.
•  Olds, David L. (2002) “Prenatal and Infancy Home Visiting by Nurses: From Randomized Trials to Community Replication.” Prevention Science vol.3,
no.3.
 Community Crime Prevention
• “Community crime prevention refers to actions intended to change the social conditions that are
believed to sustain crime in residential communities. It concentrates on the ability of local
social institutions to reduce crime” (Hope, T. (1995) ‘Community crime prevention’, in M Tonry & D Farrington (eds.) Building a safer community:
strategic approaches to crime prevention, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago: 21)

• Generally speaking, high levels of informal social control and collective efficacy in local
communities result in lower crime. The following provides an insight into the nature of
these constructs:
►“Sampson and his coauthors then introduced the term ‘collective efficacy’, which is defined in
terms of the neighbourhood’s ability to maintain order in public spaces such as streets, sidewalks,
and parks. Collective efficacy is implemented when neighbourhood residents take over actions to
maintain public order, such as by complaining to the authorities or by organizing neighbourhood
watch programs. The authors argued that residents take such actions only when ‘cohesion and
mutual trust’ in the neighbourhood is linked to ‘shared expectations for intervening in support of
neighbourhood social control’. If either the mutual trust or the shared expectations are absent,
then residents will be unlikely to act when disorder invades public space” (Vold et al, 2002,
Theoretical Criminology, pages 131-132)
 Case Study: Communities that Care
• Communities That Care (CTC) is a community-based prevention system. CTC aims to promote the healthy development of
children and young people through long term community planning to prevent health and social problems.
• CTC guides communities towards identifying and understanding local needs, setting priorities and implementing effective
evidence-based interventions to address those needs. The CTC model has been implemented in numerous countries around
the world and is currently operating in over 500 communities.
• CTC is founded upon the ‘Social Development Strategy’, it is a strategy that promotes positive youth development by
organising the all the evidence-based protective factors into a simple strategy for action. It comprises of the following five
key components (CTC, 2018):
► Healthy beliefs and clear standards of behaviour – young people are more likely to engage in prosocial and responsible behaviour when they
are surrounded by teachers, parents and a community that communicates healthy beliefs and standards
► Bonding – young people need to develop and maintain strong relationships with those who hold healthy beliefs and clear standards
► Opportunities – developmentally appropriate opportunities should be provided to young people, for active participation and meaningful
interaction with prosocial others
► Skills – young people should be taught the skills they need to succeed in life
► Recognition – consistent, specific praise and recognition should be provided to young people for effort, improvement and achievement
• Results reported eight years after implementation of the CTC prevention system reveal that:
► Students in CTC communities were more likely than students in control communities to have abstained from any drug use, smoking cigarettes,
and engaging in delinquency; and
► They were also less likely to ever have committed a violent act.
• More information about CTC and their prevention programs can be found at https://www.communitiesthatcare.org.au/ or
https://www.communitiesthatcare.net/
 Definition - Situational Crime Prevention

“Situational prevention comprises opportunity reducing measures that

(1) are directed at highly specific forms of crime,
(2) involve the management, design or manipulation of the immediate environment in as
systematic and permanent way as possible,
(3) make crime more difficult and risky, or less rewarding and excusable as judged by a
wide range of offenders” (Clarke, R. V. (1997) Situational Crime Prevention – Successful Case Studies, Harrow and
Heston, New York: 4).
 Elements of a Criminal Act
Motivated Offender

Suitable Target / Victim Absence of Capable Guardian

Felson, M. and Cohen, L. E. (1980) ‘Human Ecology and Crime: A Routine Activity Approach’, Human Ecology, Vol. 8, No. 4: 392.
 25 Opportunity-Reducing Techniques
Increase the Effort Increase the Risks Reduce the Rewards Reduce Provocations Remove the Excuses
1. Target Harden 6. Extend guardianship 11. Conceal targets 16. Reduced frustrations and stress 21. Set rules
Steering column locks Take routine precautions Off-street parking Efficient queues and polite service Rental agreements
Anti-robbery screens ‘Cocoon’ neighbourhood watch Gender-neutral phone directories Expanded seating Harassment codes
Tamper-proof packaging Unmarked bullion trucks Soothing music/muted lights Hotel registrations

1. Control access to facilities 7. Assist natural surveillance 12. Remove targets 17. Avoid disputes 22. Post instructions
Entry phones Improved street lighting  Removable car radio Separate enclosures for rival soccer  ‘No parking’
Electronic card access Defensible space design  Women’s refuges fans  ‘Private property’
Baggage screening Support whistleblowers  Pre-paid phone cards for pay Reduce crowding in pubs  ‘Extinguish camp fires’
phones Fixed cab fares
1. Screen exits 8. Reduce anonymity 13. Identify property 18. Reduce emotional arousal 23. Alert conscience
Ticket needed for exit Taxi driver IDs  Property marking  Controls on violent pornography  Roadside speed display boards
Export documents ‘How’s my driving?’ decals  Vehicle licensing and parts  Enforce good behaviour on soccer  Signatures for customs
Electronic merchandise tags School uniforms marking field declarations
 Cattle branding  Prohibit racial slurs  ‘Shoplifting is stealing’
1. Deflect Offenders 9. Utilise place managers 14. Disrupt markets 19. Neutralise peer pressure 24. Assist compliance
 Street closures CCTV for double-decker buses Monitor pawn shops ‘Idiots drink and drive’ Easy library check-out
 Separate bathrooms for women Two clerks for convenience stores Controls on classified ads ‘It’s OK to say no’ Public lavatories
 Disperse pubs Reward vigilance License street vendors Disperse troublemakers at school Litter bins
 
1. Control tools/weapons 10. Strengthen formal surveillance 15. Deny benefits 20. Discourage imitation 25. Control drugs and alcohol
‘Smart’ guns Red light cameras  Ink merchandise tags  Rapid repair of vandalism  Breathalysers in pubs
Disabling stolen mobile phones Burglar alarms  Graffiti cleaning  V-chips in TVs  Server intervention
Restrict spray paint to juveniles Security guards  Speed humps  Censor details of modus operandi  Alcohol-free events

Cornish, D. B. and Clarke, R. V. (2003) ‘Opportunities, precipitators and criminal decisions: A reply to Wortley’s critique of
situational crime prevention’, in Smith, M. and Cornish, D. B. (eds) Theory for Situational Crime Prevention, Crime Prevention
Studies, Vol. 16, Criminal Justice Press, Monsey, New York.
 Examples of Situational Crime Prevention
Electronic Article Surveillance Car Locking Devices and Immobilisers

Source: https://www.watcherprotect.com/electronic-article-surveillance-eas /
Bank Counter Screens Source: https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/car-engine-immobilisers-alarms-trackers
Airport Security

Source: http://www.architecturalarmour.com/security-sectors/bank-counters-security-desks Source: https://www.thedailymeal.com/travel/things-you-didn-t-know-you-could-bring-through-airport-security-slideshow

 Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

• “the physical environment can be manipulated to produce behavioural effects that will
reduce the incidence and fear of crime, thereby improving the quality of life” (Crowe, T.
(2000) Crime prevention through environmental design: applications of architectural design and space management
concepts, 2nd edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston: 34-35).

• http://www.securedbydesign.com/industry-advice-and-guides/interactive-design-guide/
 Law Enforcement / Criminal Justice Crime Prevention

“deals with offending after it has happened, and involves intervention in the lives of known
offenders in such a fashion that they will not commit further offences. In so far as it is
preventative, it operates through incapacitation and individual deterrence, and perhaps
offers the opportunity of treatment in prisons or through other sentencing options (Cameron, M.
and Laycock, G. (2002) ‘Crime prevention in Australia’, in Graycar, A. and Grabosky, P. (eds.) The Cambridge handbook of
Australian criminology, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Australia: 314).
 Policing for Prevention
Community-based Policing Problem-oriented Policing Pulling Levers or Focused Deterrence Policing

This approach recognises that police are of This approach, developed by Professor This approach, developed by Professor David
the people and for the people. Without Herman Goldstein, seeks to ensure a more Kennedy and his colleagues, seeks to prevent crime
community support police are not very responsive policing. Rather than just through detailed analysis of pressing crime
effective because a considerable amount of responding to calls for service, Goldstein problems, communicating with high risk offenders,
crime is cleared as a result of reports from suggested that problems should be defined providing swift policing resources if these high risk
community members. Community-based with much greater specificity; that effort offenders continue to offend while also extending
policing favours tactics which connect the needed to be invested in researching the opportunities to exit crime through engaging with
police to local communities. This might be problem; that alternative solutions should be relevant support services and mobilising local
through police involvement in community considered (including physical technical community voices to condemn ongoing criminal
events; the creation of police-community changes, changes in the provision of (especially violent) activity. This approach relies and
committees to establish local policing government services, developing new coordination of various services, including police,
priorities; the creation of community-based community resources, increased use of city probation and parole, prosecutors, welfare services,
roles to help the police connect with hard- ordinances, and improved use of zoning); and youth workers, local community members impacted
to-reach groups such as those from that implementation should be carefully by crime, and other agencies. Its effectiveness rests
minority communities. managed (Goldstein 1979, pp. 244–58). This on the swift delivery of a policing and criminal
approach utilizes the SARA model. justice response if offending persists and the
opportunities to exit offending.
Crime Problem-Solving Approaches

https://youtu.be/87Ne-Qic5r4
 23

SARA Model

Source: http://www.popcenter.org/learning/60steps/index.cfm?page=Welcome
 24

Ekblom’s 5Is

http://www.designagainstcrime.com/files/crimeframeworks/04_5i_framework.pdf
 Crime Problem-solving Exercise

• Crime problem: There has been a significant increase in the number of burglaries in the
local neighbourhood in the last six months. This is causing concern in the community
and residents want action.

• Prompts:
► What data will be needed to analyse the problem in fine detail?
► How would you decide what should be done to respond?
► What steps might need to be considered in developing a response to this problem?
► What agencies and individuals might usefully be involved?
► How would you determine the impact, remembering to consider both process and impact evaluation
issues?
 Campbell Collaboration
• The Campbell Collaboration was established in 2000 to address the gaps in knowledge
base by drawing together the evaluations that have been conducted into particular crime
prevention activities. This is achieved by systematic reviews.
• Systematic reviews summarise and evaluate the best available research on specific
programmes and interventions (Campbell Collaboration, 2018). The results from
multiple high-quality studies are synthesised to produce the best possible evidence. Great
importance is placed upon the integrity of the process in which systematic reviews are
produced from.
• The Crime and Justice coordinating group has published 43 systematic reviews in the
Campbell Collaboration library as of August 2018. Plain language summaries (PLS)
accompany 18 of the 43 reviews. And 37 of the 43 reviews are related to crime
prevention interventions.
• http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/
 Exercise: Analyse a Campbell Collaboration Review
Police-initiated diversion for youth to prevent future delinquent behaviour
Authors: David B. Wilson, Iain Brennan, Ajima Olaghere
Published Date: 1 June 2018
URL:
https://campbellcollaboration.org/library/police-initiated-diversion-to-prevent-future-delinq
uent-behaviour.html

Plain Language Summary: Available

Conclusions: The authors support the use of police-led diversion as an appropriate response
to address youth crime, especially in response to first time young offenders.

Read the Plain Language Summary and discuss how this might be used by policymakers.
 EMMIE
Effect Impact on crime Whether the evidence suggests the intervention led to an
increase, decrease or had no impact on crime.

Mechanism How it works What is it about the intervention that could explain its effects?

Moderators Where it works In what circumstances and contexts is the intervention likely to
work/not work?

Implementation How to do it What conditions should be considered when implementing an

intervention locally?

Economic Cost How much it costs What direct or indirect costs are associated with the
intervention and is there evidence of cost benefits?
Source: http://whatworks.college.police.uk/toolkit/About-the-Crime-Reduction-Toolkit/Pages/About.aspx
 Summary - http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/14164
• What are the four models of crime prevention?
►
►
►
►
• How might criminal justice agencies prevent crime and why might these approaches have limited crime
prevention benefits?
• What are the three elements of the crime triangle?
►
►
►

• What changes in our ‘routine activities’ increased opportunities for crime in the latter part of last century?

• What is informal social control and what are some examples?

• What are the challenges of implementing social crime prevention?

 Summary
• What are the four models of crime prevention?
►Developmental
►Social (or community)
►Situational
►Criminal justice / law enforcement
•  How might criminal justice agencies prevent crime and why might these approaches have limited crime prevention benefits?
Incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation. Always after an offence (or offences) has been committed.
• What are the three elements of the crime triangle?
►Motivated offender
►Victim or target
► Absence of capable guardianship
• What changes in our ‘routine activities’ increased opportunities for crime in the latter part of last century?
Suburbanisation, dual income families, increased wealth, weight of consumer items,,, …
• What is informal social control and what are some examples?
Action taken by residents in response to antisocial behaviour. Graffiti removal and stopping antisocial behaviour.
• What are the challenges of implementing social crime prevention?
Free-rider effect; imposed; some people/communities will be left out.
• What are some early intervention programs?
Nurse visitation and child enrichment programs.
 More
information

@DohaDeclaration e4j@unodc.org

unodc.org/dohadeclaration unodc.org/e4J