Evaluation of operation swordfish: a near-repeat target-hardening strategy (original) (raw)
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Repeat burglary victimisation: Analysis of a partial failure
The Irish Journal of Psychology, 2008
The extent to which criminal offending is disproportionately committed against the same households and individuals is noted, highlighting the consequential crime reduction possibilities. The demonstrated communicability of burglary risk across households located nearby extends those possibilities. A burglary reduction project in Knowsley, Merseyside, England is described in outline. This was initially a partial implementation failure. Where implemented, the risk of subsequent burglary victimisation was much lower than where it was or time of burglary. A subsequent initiative using Police Community Support segments where they were active. The Merseyside work illustrates the viability of burglary reduction by concentration on those recently burgled and nearby households.
The Crime-Crime Prevention Relationship: A Manchester Case Study
Built Environment, 2008
Crime data analysis and the identification of crime 'hot spots' is now commonplace in police forces and local authorities in Britain. Significantly less attention has been paid to the systematic collection and analysis of data on crime prevention. This reflects a preoccupation with the problems (crime, anti social behaviour) and the context in which they occur (areas with poor natural surveillance, know crime generators) but a lack of attention to the attributes of the response (what is being done where, when and in what dosage). This paper breaks new ground by relating a crime problem, domestic burglary, to a burglary-prevention intervention (Target Hardening) using data for the City of Manchester in NW England. The results show a degree of mismatch between allocation of crime prevention and concentrations of burglary. The implications for further research and developments in this area are discussed.
Burglary Reduction: Findings from Safer Cities Schemes
The Home Office Police Research Group (PRG) was formed in 1992 to carry out and manage research in the social and management sciences relevant to the work of the police service and Home Office policy divisions. One of the major police department divisions which acts as customer for the PRG is the Home Office Crime Prevention Unit which was formed in 1983 to promote preventive action against crime. It has a particular responsibility to disseminate information on crime prevention topics. The object of the present series of occasional papers is to present research material in a way which should help and inform practitioners, including the police, whose work can help reduce crime. ISBN 1 85893 176 2 (ii) Foreword The Home Office Safer Cities projects have sponsored an enormous range of schemes in their project areas covering a wide diversity of offences. This report reviews a selection of the relatively more substantial attempts to reduce domestic burglary. The assessment of the schemes was constrained by the availability of data locally. In some areas, for example, the police beat boundaries did not coincide with the scheme boundaries, or 'pre-implementation' data was only partially available. Nevertheless, some useful conclusions have been drawn which testify to the enthusiasm which can be tapped within communities to tackle this most damaging and intrusive offence. As this report shows, with planning and proper implementation, domestic burglary can be controlled, even in some of the most disadvantaged areas.
Assessing the impact of the Reducing Burglary Initiative in southern England and Wales: 2nd edition
PsycEXTRA Dataset
This report summarises findings about the impact of Reducing Burglary Initiative projects covered by the Southern Consortium. It considers what worked in reducing domestic burglary and aims to explain the factors underlying this success. The issues of whether interventions were theoretically robust, and how intensively they needed to be implemented in practice to achieve any impact are examined. Projects tended to be more successful if the underlying theory of interventions was clearly thought through so that they complemented rather than contradicted each other. If this was the case, so-called 'packages' of interventions were most effective when designed to be relevant to the local area in terms of the local community, local offending and to management experience. The 'dosage' of an intervention needed to be considered so as to maximise effect, taking into account financial and personnel restrictions. Combinations of short-and long-term interventions were found to have a more sustainable impact on offending. Other internal and extraneous factors are considered that may have acted to the benefit or detriment of implementation. These may have masked the impact of successful projects from the evaluators, or given the spurious impression of success. The projects could be undermined by changing operational and community priorities. Despite the wide range of problems that projects had with implementation, the Southern Consortium SDPs proved that successful projects were possible.
Crime Science, 2021
Expected crime rates that enable police forces to contrast recorded and anticipated spatial patterns of crime victimisation offer a valuable tool in evaluating the under-reporting of crime and inform/guide crime reduction initiatives. Prior to this study, police forces had no access to expected burglary maps at the neighbourhood level covering all parts of England and Wales. Drawing on analysis of the Crime Survey for England and Wales and employing a population terrain modelling approach, this paper utilises household and area characteristics to predict the mean residential burglary incidences per 1000 population across all neighbourhoods in England and Wales. The analysis identifies distinct differences in recorded and expected neighbourhood burglary incidences at the Output Area level, providing a catalyst for stimulating further reflection by police officers and crime analysts.
Burglary prevention: Early lessons from the Crime Reduction Programme
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
The Policing and Reducing Crime Unit (PRCU) is based in the Researc h , Development and Statistics (RDS) Directorate of the Home Office. The Unit carries out and commissions social and management science re s e a rch on policing and crime reduction, to support Home Office aims and develop evidence-based policy and practice. The Crime Reduction Research Series presents re s e a rch findings and guidance material relevant to practitioners involved in crime reduction at the local level, and particularly the local crime and disorder part n e r s h i p s. The series will include work funded under the Govern m e n t 's Crime Reduction Programme as well as other relevant RDS work. Details of how to obtain further copies of this re p o rt can be found on the back cover.
Reducing burglary initiative project summary: Yew Tree, Sandwell: Supplement 3 to findings 204
PsycEXTRA Dataset
Introduction and overview Round 1 of the Reducing Burg l a ry Initiative (RBI) was built upon a strong evidence base of operational research, which had identified types of measures that can be effective in reducing burglary in local areas. A key objective of the RBI was to find out what works best where. Sixty three Strategic Development Projects (SDPs) were funded by Round 1 of the RBI. These projects were encouraged to develop innovative burglary reduction strategies. As a result, a wide range of interventions was implemented in a variety of contexts making use of different principles. This paper presents a summary of one of these projects where activities undertaken were built along the general framework of police crackdown followed by consolidation interventions. The main/noteworthy interventions of this SDP were as follows: q Police Crackdown: Ë Targeting known offenders: eviction orders, high visibility policing, bail enforcement, Anti Social Behaviour Orders q Consolidation: Ë P ro p e rty/appliance base security systems: pro p e rty marking, micro-chip tracking system Ë Community involvement schemes: police/community radio system, increase in the number of Neighbourhood Watch schemes Ë Tackling repeat victimisation: database of identified repeat victims Ë E n v i ronmental improvements: architectural surveys locating crime hotspots, establishment of protocols for building developments and environmental work Ë Youth diversion initiatives: Garden creation scheme and football coaching and summer play scheme trips Ë Publicity through media strategy: crime prevention publicity campaign and broadcast/newspaper media approach Ë Establish costs of burglary Between project before and after periods, there was a net fall in the number of burglaries of 39 per cent in the project area, when controlling for burglary trends in the rest of the Police Force Area 1. The project was also found to be cost effective.