Crime prevention
Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce and deter
Studies
They agree that governments must go beyond law enforcement and criminal justice to tackle the risk factors that cause crime, because it is more cost effective and leads to greater social benefits than the standard ways of responding to crime. Multiple
The World Health Organization Guide (2004) complements the World Report on Violence and Health (2002) and the 2003 World Health Assembly Resolution 56-24 for governments to implement nine recommendations, which were:
- Create, implement and monitor a national action plan for violence prevention.
- Enhance capacity for collecting data on violence.
- Define priorities for, and support research on, the causes, consequences, costs and prevention of violence.
- Promote primary prevention responses.
- Strengthen responses for victims of violence.
- Integrate violence prevention into social and educational policies, and thereby promote gender and social equality.
- Increase collaboration and exchange of information on violence prevention.
- Promote and monitor adherence to international treaties, laws and other mechanisms to protect human rights.
- Seek practical, internationally agreed responses to the global drugs and global arms trade.
The commissions agree on the role of municipalities, because they are best able to organize the strategies to tackle the risk factors that cause crime. The European Forum for Urban Safety and the United States Conference of Mayors have stressed that municipalities must target the programs to meet the needs of youth at risk and women who are vulnerable to violence.[citation needed]
To succeed, they need to establish a coalition of key agencies such as schools, job creation, social services, housing and law enforcement around a diagnosis.
Types
Several factors must come together for a crime to occur:
- an individual or group must have the desire or motivation to participate in a banned or prohibited behavior;
- at least some of the participants must have the skills and tools needed to commit the crime; and,
- an opportunity must be acted upon.
Primary prevention addresses individual and family-level factors correlated with later criminal participation. Individual level factors such as attachment to school and involvement in pro-social activities decrease the probability of criminal involvement.
Family-level factors such as consistent parenting skills similarly reduce individual level risk. Risk factors are additive in nature. The greater the number of risk factors present the greater the risk of criminal involvement. In addition there are initiatives which seek to alter rates of crime at the community or aggregate level.
For example, Larry Sherman from the University of Maryland in Policing Domestic Violence (1993) demonstrated that changing the policy of police response to domestic violence calls altered the probability of subsequent violence. Policing hot spots, areas of known criminal activity, decreases the number of criminal events reported to the police in those areas. Other initiatives include community policing efforts to capture known criminals. Organizations such as America's Most Wanted and Crime Stoppers help catch these criminals.
Secondary prevention uses intervention techniques that are directed at youth who are at high risk to commit crime, and especially focus on youth who drop out of school or get involved in
Tertiary prevention is used after a crime has occurred in order to prevent successive incidents. Such measures can be seen in the implementation of new security policies following acts of terrorism such as the
Situational crime prevention uses techniques focusing on reducing on the opportunity to commit a crime. Some of techniques include increasing the difficulty of crime, increasing the risk of crime, and reducing the rewards of crime.[2]
Situational crime prevention
Introduction and description
Situational crime prevention (SCP) is a relatively new concept that employs a preventive approach by focusing on methods to reduce the opportunities for crime. It was first outlined in a 1976 report released by the British Home Office.[3] SCP focuses on the criminal setting[4] and is different from most criminology as it begins with an examination of the circumstances that allow particular types of crime. By gaining an understanding of these circumstances, mechanisms are then introduced to change the relevant environments with the aim of reducing the opportunities for particular crimes. Thus, SCP focuses on crime prevention rather than the punishment or detection of criminals and its intention is to make criminal activities less appealing to offenders.[5]
SCP focuses on opportunity-reducing processes that:
- Are aimed at particular forms of crime;
- Entail the management, creation or manipulation of the immediate environment in as organised and permanent a manner as possible; and
- Result in crime being more difficult and risky or less rewarding and justifiable.[5]
The theory behind SCP concentrates on the creation of safety mechanisms that assist in protecting people by making criminals feel they may be unable to commit crimes or would be in a situation where they may be caught or detected, which will result in them being unwilling to commit crimes where such mechanisms are in place. The logic behind this is based on the concept of
Situational Crime prevention can be applied using twenty-five opportunity reducing techniques:
- Increase the Effort: Includes target hardening (e.g. Tamper-proof packaging), controlling access to facilities (e.g. Electronic card access), applying screen exits (e.g. Electronic merchandise tags), deflecting offenders (e.g. dispersing pubs) and controlling tools or weapons (e.g. Disabling stolen mobile phones).
- Increase the Risks: Includes extending guardianship (e.g. neighbourhood watch), Assisting natural surveillance (e.g. adequate street lighting), Reducing anonymity (e.g. compulsory taxi identification cards), utilising place managers (e.g. rewarding vigilance) and strengthening formal surveillance (e.g. Security guards).
- Reduce the Rewards: Includes concealing targets (e.g. unmarked bullion trucks), removing targets (e.g. women's refuges), identifying property (e.g. cattle branding), disrupting markets (e.g. monitoring of pawn shops) and denying benefits (e.g. speed humps).
- Reduce Provocations: Includes reducing frustrations and stress (e.g. efficient queues and polite service), avoiding disputes (e.g. Separate enclosures for rival soccer fans), reducing emotional arousal (e.g. controls on violent pornography), neutralising peer pressure (e.g. targeting and removing troublemakers from a school) and discouraging imitation (e.g. V-chips in televisions).
- Remove the excuses: Includes setting rules (e.g. rental agreements), posting instructions (e.g. 'No Parking' signs), alerting conscience (roadside speed display boards), assisting compliance (e.g. easy library check-out) and controlling drugs and alcohol (e.g. alcohol free zones)[6]
One example of SCP in practice is automated traffic enforcement. Automated traffic enforcement systems (ATES) use automated cameras on the roads to catch drivers who are speeding and those who run red lights. Such systems enjoy use all over the world. These systems have been installed and are advertised as an attempt to keep illegal driving incidences[spelling?] down. As a potential criminal, someone who is about to speed or run a red light knows that their risk of getting caught is nearly 100% with these systems. This completely disincentivizes the person from speeding or running red lights in areas in which they know ATES are set up. Though not conclusive, evidence shows that these type of systems work. In a Philadelphia study, some of the city's most dangerous intersections had a reduction of 96% in red light violations after the installation and advertisement of an ATES system.[7]
Applying SCP to information systems (IS)
Situational crime prevention (SCP) in general attempts to move away from the "dispositional" theories of crime commission i.e. the influence of psychosocial factors or genetic makeup of the criminal, and to focus on those environmental and situational factors that can potentially influence criminal conduct. Hence rather than focus on the criminal, SCP focuses on the circumstances that lend themselves to crime commission. Understanding these circumstances leads to the introduction of measures that alter the environmental factors with the aim of reducing opportunities for criminal behavior. Other aspects of SCP include:
- targeting specific forms of crime e.g. cybercrime
- aiming to increase the effort and decrease potential risks of crime
- reducing provocative phenomena[5]
Safeguarding
Another aspect of SCP that is more applicable to the cyber environment is the principle of safeguarding. The introduction of these safeguards is designed to influence the potential offender's 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. One of the goals of SCP is to implement safeguards to the point where the potential offender views the act unfavourably. For example, drivers approaching a traffic junction where there are speed cameras slow down if there is a nearly 100% chance of being caught trying to run a red light. The use of crime "scripts" has been touted as a method of administering safeguards.[4] Scripts were originally developed in the field of cognitive science and focus on the behavioural processes involved in rational goal-oriented behaviour. Hence scripts have been proposed as tool for examining criminal behaviour. In 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.
Application to cybercrimes
It has been suggested that
- Increasing the effort to commit the crime
- Increasing the risks of committing the crime
- Reducing the rewards of committing the crime
- Reducing any provocation for committing the crime
- Removing any excuses for committing the crime[9]
These techniques can be specifically adapted to cybercrime as follows:
Increasing the effort
Reinforcing targets and restricting access- the use of
Increasing the risk
Reinforcing authentication procedures- background checks for employees with database access, tracking keystrokes of computer users, use of photo and thumb print for ID documents/credit cards, requiring additional ID for online purchases, use of cameras at ATMs and at point of sale.
Reducing the rewards
Removing targets and disrupting cyberplaces – monitoring Internet sites and incoming spam, harsh penalties for hacking, rapid notification of stolen or lost credit bankcards, avoiding ID numbers on all official documents.
Reducing provocation and excuses
Avoiding disputes and temptations – maintaining positive employee-management relations and increasing awareness of responsible use policy.[10]
Many of these techniques do not require a considerable investment in hi-tech IT skills and knowledge. Rather, it is the effective utilization and training of existing personnel that is key.[citation needed]
It has been suggested that the theory behind situational crime prevention may also be useful in improving
- Increasing the perceived difficulty of crime;
- Increasing the risks; and
- Reducing the rewards.[11]
IS professionals and others who wish to fight
Despite many years of computer security research, huge amounts[
In the case of computer crime, even cautious companies or businesses that aim to create effective and comprehensive security measures may unintentionally produce an environment, which helps provide opportunities because they are using inappropriate controls.[18] Consequently, if the precautions are not providing an adequate level of security, the IS will be at risk.[18]
Application to sexual abuse
Smallbone et al.’s Integrated Theory of Child Sexual Abuse posits that it can be useful to study child sexual abuse as a situationally specific incident, and that on any particular occasion, a variety of different factors can influence whether that incident is likely to occur. One set of factors is situational factors, which form the immediate backdrop to the setting in which the abuse takes place. Situational factors, it is argued, can influence not just whether a person abuses a child, but whether the idea of abusing occurs to them in the first place. The particular opportunities and dynamics of a situation are said to present cues, stressors, temptations and perceived provocations, which trigger motivation. The consideration of situational factors leads to the argument that some offenders may be considered as ‘situational’, marking them out from other types. The ‘situational offender’ is someone who is not primarily attracted to children. Instead, he is stimulated to offend by specific behavioural cues or stressors, often while performing care-giving duties. The authors of the theory argue that modifying the situations experienced by children, through situational crime prevention strategies, could lower the likelihood of abuse, irrespective of the disposition of people who are likely to come into contact with children. The authors concede that there has been little testing of situational interventions, which means there is little evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness.[19]
An evaluation of a programme which worked work mothers in London to reduce situational risk of child sexual abuse in the home illustrated some of the challenges that mothers faced in identifying and reducing situational risk:
- Increasing understanding about abuse, how and where it happens.
- Accepting the possibility of abuse at home and in the family.
- Accurately assessing the risks posed to one's own children.
- Lowering known risks by negotiating with family members.[20]
Situational crime prevention and fraud
In 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 are monitored for any features that indicate a risk of criminal activity.
Generally, fraud detection techniques fall into two categories: statistical techniques and artificial intelligence techniques.
Important statistical data analysis techniques to detect fraud include:
- Grouping and classification to determine patterns and associations among sets of data.
- Matching algorithms to identify irregularities in the transactions of users compared to previous proof
- Data pre-processing techniques for validation, correction of errors and estimating incorrect or missing data.
Important AI techniques for fraud management are:
- Data mining – to categorise and group data and automatically identify associations and rules that may be indicative of remarkable patterns, including those connected to fraud.
- Specialist systems to programme expertise for fraud detection in the shape of rules.
- Pattern recognition to identify groups or patterns of behaviour either automatically or to match certain inputs.
- Machine learning techniques to automatically detect the characteristics of fraud
- Neural networks that can learn suspicious patterns and later identify them.[21]
Applications
Neighborhoods can implement protective strategies to reduce violent crime. The broken windows theory of crime suggests that disorderly neighborhoods can promote crime by showing they have inadequate social control. Some studies have indicated that modifying the built environment can reduce violent crime. This includes deconcentrating high-rise public housing, making zoning changes, restricting the number of liquor licenses available in an area, and keeping vacant lots and buildings maintained and secure.[22]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Our Kids, Our Problem". Inlander. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ Barthe, Emmanuel (2006). "Crime Prevention Publicity Campaigns" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28.
- ISBN 9780190264079. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ^ hdl:10398/6463.
- ^ ISBN 978-0911577389
- ^ https://www.unodc.org/documents/e4j/CPCJ/CPCJ_Module_2_Crime_Prevention_-_table_25_opportunity_reducing_techniques.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Page, Benton H., Automated Traffic Enforcement Systems: The Efficacy of Such Systems and Their Effect on Traffic Law, p 13, 2009. http://works.bepress.com/benton_page/1/
- ^ Parker, D. (1998) Fighting computer crime: A New Framework for protecting Information. Wiley Computer Publishing, New York.
- ^ Cornish, D. and Clarke, R. Opportunities, Precipitators and Criminal Decisions: A Reply to Wortley's Critique of Situational Crime Prevention. In Theory for Practice in Situational Crime Prevention, Crime Prevention Studies, (Vol 16) M. Smith and D. Cornish, Eds, Criminal Justice Press, New York, 151-196.
- ^ Handbook on Crime and Deviance. Edited by Marvin D. Krohn, Alan J. Lizotte and Gina Penly Hall. Springer Science and Business Media, LLC 2009.
- ^ Me G., Spagnoletti P., Situational Crime Prevention and Cyber-crime Investigation: the Online Pedo-pornography Case Study, Eurocon 2005
- ^ Willison R. Siponen M. Overcoming the insider: reducing employee computer crime through Situational Crime Prevention, Communications of the ACM, Vol 52(9), 2009
- ^ a b c Beebe N.L., Rao V.S., Using Situational Crime Prevention Theory to Explain the Effectiveness of Information Systems, Security, Proceedings of the 2005 SoftWars Conference,[1] Archived 2018-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, Las Vegas 2005
- .
- ^ Garfinkel S.L., Inside Risks, The Cybersecurity Risk, Communications of the ACM, Vol 55 (6), p29 - 32, 2012
- ^ Sukula S.K., Mittal, K.K., Computer crimes and preventive measures in cyber law, Journal of Social Welfare and Management, Vol 2(2), p63 - 70, 2010
- ^ Thakar U., Dagdee N., Varma S., Pattern Analysis and Signature Extraction for Intrusion Attacks on Web Services, International Journal of Network Security and Its Applications, Vol 2(3), p190 - 205, 2010
- ^ a b Willison R., Backhouse J., Opportunities for computer crime: considering systems risk from a criminological perspective, European Journal of Information Systems, Vol 15, p 403 - 414, 2006
- ^ Smallbone, S; Marshall, W; Wortley, R (2008). Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Evidence, Policy and Practice. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing.
- ^ Williams, Mike (2018). "Four Steps to the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in the Home" (PDF). NSPCC.
- ^ Palshikar G.K., The Hidden Truth: data analysis can be a strategic weapon in your company’s management and control of fraud, [2] Intelligent Enterprise 2002
- PMID 29328874.
Bibliography
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- International Centre for Prevention of Crime, Urban Crime Prevention and Youth at Risk: Compendium of promising strategies and programs from around the world, Montreal, 2005
- International Centre for Prevention of Crime, Crime Prevention Digest II: Comparative Analysis of Successful Community Safety, Montreal, 1999
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External links
Media related to Crime prevention at Wikimedia Commons