Situational Crime Prevention

• Newman developed a theory of crime prevention that involved creating "defensible space". Space is considered defensible if it can be clearly perceived as belonging to someone or a small group of people.

  He compared crime rates in 2 NYC housing projects: one with defensible space such as walk up buildings (Brownsville) and one without defensible space in high rises (Van Dyke). He found crime rates were higher in Van Dyke.
• Wilson and Kelling proposed a situational explanation for crime called the broken windows theory made of 3 steps:

  1. Minor disorders is a trigger for fear in residents as they think disorder will lead to serious crime,
  2. People fear crime so they spend less time in community spaces and avoid contacts with others,
  3. Citizens fail to challenge minor disorderly behaviour and this leads to a lack of social cohesion.
• Zero tolerance policing emerged out of broken windows theory and suggests that police should tackle all types of crime in order to prevent escalation, but that officers can use different methods for different types of crime.

  It was popularised in the 1990's by NYPD - including by the mayor Rudy Giuliani. They found that violent crime decreased by 56%.
• Wilson and Kelling wanted to challenge the existing beliefs about the fear of crime and the role of police. They wanted to explore the link between disorder and subsequent serious crime.
• Wilson and Kelling looked at Newark foot patrol officers which took place in a statewide initiative started in the mid 1970's called the "safe and clean neighbourhoods programme". The programme was designed to improve quality of community life.
• After 5 years, Wilson and Kelling found the increase in foot patrols had not reduced crime rates but residents did report a reduced fear of crime and did not take as many behavioural precautions. Also:

  • Foot patrol officers had higher morale, job satisfaction and relations with the community,
  • Residents felt more comfortable reporting disorder as they know something will come of it,
  • Being on foot made officers more approachable.
• Wilson and Kelling concluded that the relationship between low level and serious crime can be understood by using the broken windows theory. Public order should be created and maintained collaboratively by police and the community.

  We can target communities with high crime rates and introduce foot patrols to ensure the community feels safe and more likely to report crime.
• Creating defensible spaces

  Divide large portions of community space and assign them to individuals/small groups where it is easy to see what is happening (e.g. lights).

  Newman's research shows that having defensible space leads to a greater sense of responsibility and community as well as allowing for strangers to be recognised. This puts off potential criminals. (as shown by Brownsville having a lower crime rate than Van Dyke).
• Increasing risk of detection

  Bring ordinary members of the community together to increase surveillance to prevent local crime. A volunteer community co-ordinator can link the police and the community and encourage vigilance such as house alarms, lights and weekly safety patrols. This will deter criminals from commiting crime in that area.

  Wilson and kelling's research shows that that public order should be created and maintained by the police and the community. They found that foot patrols in Newark lead to residents feeling more comfortable reporting crimes.
• Increase CCTV

  Install very visible cameras and signs informing of people of the fact they are being recorded.

  Research by Brown reported the success of CCTV cameras in town centres within the UK in reducing anti-social and criminal behaviour. Crime report data showed that the introduction of CCTV led to a 56% reduction of burglaries in Newcastle and reduced criminal damages by 24%.