Jyoti Belur | University College London (original) (raw)

Papers by Jyoti Belur

Multi agency initiatives as a response to complex crimes and social problems pose several challen... more Multi agency initiatives as a response to complex crimes and social problems pose several challenges for practitioners and evaluators, in conceptual and operational terms. Challenges for practitioners include working out input requirements to achieve specified interim and final outcomes, and for evaluators it implies measuring not only if interventions work, but how they work, for whom, and under what circumstances. In an attempt to address these challenges, here we present findings from our unique attempt to combine a theory of change driven approach with the realist-inspired EMMIE evaluation framework, of a pilot multi agency stalking intervention partnership in one police force area in England and Wales. The paper makes a significant methodological and empirical contribution to evaluation literature.

Police Practice and Research

Policing & Society, Oct 25, 2018

The What Works Centre for Crime Reduction was established in September 2013 with the aim of incre... more The What Works Centre for Crime Reduction was established in September 2013 with the aim of increasing the use of research evidence by decision-makers in policing and crime reduction. The EMMIE framework was developed to meet this aim. It encapsulates five broad categories of research evidence that are considered relevant to crime reduction, namely Effect size, Mechanism, Moderator (or context), Implementation and Economics. In this paper, we chart the origins and development of EMMIE. We also reflect on our experience of applying EMMIE both as a coding system to appraise systematic review evidence and as a framework to inform the design and conduct of systematic reviews in crime reduction. We conclude with a critique of EMMIE and with suggestions on how it might be developed and refined in the future.

Journal of Experimental Criminology, Sep 5, 2015

Objectives A defining feature of a systematic review is the data collection; the assembling of a ... more Objectives A defining feature of a systematic review is the data collection; the assembling of a meticulous, unbiased, and reproducible set of primary studies. This requires specialist skills to execute. The aim of this paper is to marshal tacit knowledge, gained through a systematic search of the crime prevention literature, to develop a 'how-to guide' for future evidence synthesists in allied fields. Methods Empirical results from a recent systematic search for evidence in crime prevention are supplied to illustrate key principles of information retrieval. Results Difficulties in operationalizing a systematic search are expounded and possible solutions discussed. Empirical results from optimizing the balance between sensitivity and precision with the criminological literature are presented. An estimation of database overlap for crime prevention studies is provided to guide other evidence synthesists in streamlining the search process. Conclusions A high-quality search will involve a substantial time investment in honing the research question, specifying the precise scope of the work, and trialing and testing of search tactics. Electronic databases are a lucrative source of eligible studies, but they have important limitations. The diversity of expression across the criminological literature needs to be captured by the use of many search terms-both natural language and controlled vocabulary-in database searches. Complementary search tactics should be employed to locate eligible studies without common vocabulary. Grey literature should be ardently pursued, for it has a central role in the crime prevention evidence base.

The Multi-Agency Stalking Interventions Programme (MASIP) is a proof of concept project which aim... more The Multi-Agency Stalking Interventions Programme (MASIP) is a proof of concept project which aims to reduce the risk to, and impact of stalking, on victims by developing a multi-agency intervention model. This model simultaneously coordinates activity around the victim and perpetrator , and incorporates an essential pathway which seeks to address the fixation and obsession in perpetrators that might be contributing to stalking offending. This is funded by the Home Office Police Transformation Fund, through the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in London across three Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) forces, and managed by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. MASIP seeks to draw expertise and intelligence across the multi-agency spectrum to inform the risk management process associated with managing stalking cases, and to offer interventions with perpetrators, a subset of which are clinical when appropriate. This final evaluation report presents evidence that speaks to the question: Does the MASIP work? Clearly, ‘working’ can refer to several different outcomes that can be considered indicators of success of a multi-agency initiative of this kind. We therefore test a number of hypotheses that were outlined in our interim report . These hypotheses were designed to test the Effect of the MASIP, by testing specific Mechanisms proposed earlier, as well as testing various Moderator and Implementation conditions that might supposedly have an impact on the Effect. We finally add a new hypothesis to test the Economics dimension to analyse whether the cost-benefit analysis favours the intervention by offering savings to the state and the victim.

Justice evaluation journal, Sep 17, 2020

To support the development and implementation of evidencebased crime reduction, we systematically... more To support the development and implementation of evidencebased crime reduction, we systematically identified and appraised 70 systematic reviews of single crime reduction measures published between 1975 and 2015. Using the EMMIE framework, we find that the quality of reporting on the Effectiveness of crime reduction measures is reasonably strong, particularly in systematic reviews published by the Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations. In contrast, evidence concerning the Mechanisms underpinning a crime reduction intervention, the conditions that Moderate effectiveness, Implementation challenges and the Economic costs and benefits of crime reduction was largely absent from the assessed systematic reviews. We conclude that there is a distinct lack of systematic review evidence in crime reduction that currently speaks to the knowledge needs of practitioners (i.e., how to make an intervention "work" for them).

Journal of Criminal Justice, May 1, 2020

Crime Science, May 30, 2017

Background: Retailers routinely use security tags to reduce theft. Presently, however, there has ... more Background: Retailers routinely use security tags to reduce theft. Presently, however, there has been no attempt to systematically review the literature on security tags. Guided by the acronym EMMIE, this paper set out to (1) examine the evidence that tags are effective at reducing theft, (2) identify the key mechanisms through which tags are expected to reduce theft and the conditions that moderate tag effectiveness, and (3) summarise information relevant to the implementation and economic costs of tagging. Methods: In this mixed-methods review, we performed systematic keyword searches of the published and unpublished literature, hand searched relevant journals, conducted forward and backward citation searches and consulted with four retailers. Studies were included if they reported an explicit goal of reducing the theft or shrinkage of items through the use of security tags in retail environments. Results: We identified 50 eligible studies, eight of which reported quantitative data on the effectiveness of tags in retail environments. Across these eight studies, five showed positive results associated with the introduction of tags, but heterogeneity in the type of tag and reported outcome measures precluded a meta-analysis. We identified three mechanisms through which tags might plausibly reduce theft-increase the risks, reduce the rewards, increase the effort-which were found to vary by tag type, and their activation dependent on five broad categories of moderator: retail store and staff, customers (including shoplifters), tag type, product type, and the involvement of the police and criminal justice system. Implementation challenges documented in the literature related mainly to staffing issues and tagging strategy. Finally, although estimates are available on the costs of tagging, our searches identified no highquality published economic evaluations of tagging. Conclusions: Through applying the EMMIE framework this review highlighted the complexity involved in security tagging in retail environments, whereby different kinds of tags are expected to reduce theft through different casual mechanisms which are dependent on a distinctive configuration of conditions. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of tags as a theft reduction measure, albeit there is suggestive evidence that more visible tags are associated with greater reductions in theft than less visible tags.

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Feb 22, 2011

Recently, against a backdrop of general reductions in acquisitive crime, increases have been obse... more Recently, against a backdrop of general reductions in acquisitive crime, increases have been observed in the frequency of metal theft offences. This is generally attributed to increases in metal prices in response to global demand exceeding supply. The main objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between the price of copper and levels of copper theft, focusing specifically on copper cable theft from the British railway network. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between lagged increases in copper price and copper cable theft. No support was found for rival hypotheses concerning U.K. unemployment levels and the general popularity of theft as crime type. An ancillary aim was to explore offender modus operandi over time, which is discussed in terms of its implications for preventing copper cable theft. We finish with a discussion of theft of other commodities in pricevolatile markets.

Routledge eBooks, Oct 23, 2019

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, May 5, 2019

Police Practice and Research, Oct 9, 2018

Policing in the UK is currently undergoing changes to the training and attained qualifications of... more Policing in the UK is currently undergoing changes to the training and attained qualifications of entry level police officers. The College of Policing is in the process of developing three entry routes into the profession, one of which is a graduate conversion course for those new recruits who hold, at a minimum, a Bachelor's degree. The objective of this research was to gather evidence on existing conversion courses to inform the development of this route. A rapid evidence assessment was undertaken to a narrative synthesis of the literature on graduate conversion courses in other professions. Fifty-one studies were identified and coded. Four main themes emerged from the available evidence as being central. These themes-learning styles, translating theory into practice, teaching methods and assessment were cross cut by pedagogical sub-themes of collaborative learning, and reflective practice. Policy and practice implications for a policing conversion course are drawn out to guide development and delivery of police training and education in the 21 st century.

Journal of Experimental Criminology, Sep 23, 2017

Objectives This paper reports an evaluation of a police-led target-hardening crime prevention str... more Objectives This paper reports an evaluation of a police-led target-hardening crime prevention strategy inspired by research concerned with space-time patterns of burglary. Methods A total of 46 neighbourhoods in the West Midlands (UK) were randomly allocated to treatment and control conditions. Within treatment areas, resources were delivered to recent burglary victims and their close neighbours. Resources included inexpensive target-hardening measures as well as the delivery of dedicated police advice. The evaluation consisted of both a resident survey and a statistical outcome analysis. Results Results suggested that residents in treatment groups were slightly more satisfied with the police and more likely to have been contacted by the police concerning burglaries. Although they had more awareness of burglary, their fear of crime was not heightened. Statistical analysis suggested a very modest positive effect of intervention on crime and rates of re-victimisation. In particular, a survival analysis revealed that homes in low-crime treatment areas were less likely to be re-victimised than were those in similar control areas. Effects were more evident in low-than high-crime areas. Conclusions Results suggest that a low-intensity target-hardening intervention which adopted a near-repeat victimisation targeting strategy had a modest positive effect on residential burglary without increasing residents' fear of crime.

Sociological Methods & Research, Sep 24, 2018

A methodologically sound systematic review is characterized by transparency, replicability, and a... more A methodologically sound systematic review is characterized by transparency, replicability, and a clear inclusion criterion. However, little attention has been paid to reporting the details of interrater reliability (IRR) when multiple coders are used to make decisions at various points in the screening and data extraction stages of a study. Prior research has mentioned the paucity of information on IRR including number of coders involved, at what stages and how IRR tests were conducted, and how disagreements were resolved. This article examines and reflects on the human factors that affect decision-making in systematic reviews via reporting on three IRR tests, conducted at three different points in the screening process, for two distinct reviews. Results of the two studies are discussed in the context of IRR and intrarater reliability in terms of the accuracy, precision, and reliability of coding behavior of multiple coders. Findings indicated that coding behavior changes both between and within individuals over time, emphasizing the importance of conducting regular and systematic IRR and intrarater reliability