Police and Crime prevention university 2000words essay
Sharonhy
lecture4slide.pdf
Connecting the dots: Part 1)A framework for responding to crime
problems Part 2) Super Controllers and Pevention
CRM201 Policing and Crime Prevention
October 220
Reading: Part 1)
(Required) Clarke & Eck (2003) Steps 19 to 53 in Crime Analysis for Problem-Solvers in 60 Small Steps (Topic 7 in MyUnitReadings via LMS)
Overview for Part 1)
• Scanning
o Brief recap: CHEERS and environment × behaviour
• Analysis
o Brief recap: hotspots, 80:20, journey to crime
o Daily and weekly rhythms
o Facilitators and scripts
• Response
o Brief recap: SCP 25 techniques
o Ownership and implementation issues
• Assessment
o Evaluation and data
• Some suggested case studies to for you to revise with…
2
Our platform for SARA
• What do we all believe in now?
• Crime is non-random, so prevention must be targeted
• Opportunity approaches are the best ways to prevent crime
• Police need to be proactive and work in partnership to prevent crime
• Creative solutions are the key
• What do we do with all of this?
o SARA provides a way for operationalising POP
3
Why Scan?
• To identify and select problems (POP-problems)
• Problems can be defined or described in many ways
o Offense type
o People involved (victims, offenders, controllers…)
o Location (time and/or space)
• The number of incidents required to constitute a problem
should exceed some norm or expected occurrence rate
o A single incident might prompt a broader investigation
o Multiple incidents don’t necessarily constitute a problem
o The number should be both substantial and significant
4
CHEERS to defining a problem
“A problem is a recurring set of similar harmful events in a community that members of the public expect the police to address”
• The CHEERS test
o Community – who is the community is affected?
o Harmful – what are the harms created by the problem?
o Expectation – what are the expectations for the response?
o Events – what types of event contribute to the problem?
o Recurring – how often do these events recur?
o Similarity – how are the events similar?
5
recurring harmful events community expect
similar
6
Environment
Behaviours
Predatory Consensual Conflicts Incivilities Endanger- ment
Misuse of police
Residential
Recreational
Offices
Retail
Industrial
Agricultural
Education
Human service
Public ways
Transport
Open/transitional
What kind of problem do you have?
Why Analysis?
• POP cannot proceed without comprehensive analysis
• Effective, tailor-made responses cannot be developed unless you know what is causing the problem
• This step often gets skipped
o False impressions that the cause of the problem are obvious
o Pressure to act immediately
o Too busy responding to calls to ‘think’
o Doesn’t seem like ‘real’ police work (critical of intelligence..!)
o A problem-focused approach might not be valued
o Commitment to the ‘old way’ of operating (old school investigations focus)
• Resist the urge to skip this phase 7
80:20 rule
8
• Crime opportunities are concentrated in time and space
• The 80:20 Rule – a small number of things are responsible for a large proportion of outcomes
• In pure terms
o Repeat-location problems
o Repeat-offender problems
o Repeat-victim problems
Hotspots
• Remember the drivers
o Crime generators
o Crime attractors
o Crime enablers
• Places can be crime neutral
• Hot spots emerge when
o The number of motivated offenders increases
o The number of suitable targets increases
o The level of control from capable guardians decreases
9
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Journey to crime
• Nodes, paths, and edges
o Crime pattern theory
11
Source: http://www.popcenter.org/learning/60steps/index.cfm?stepNum=16
Daily and weekly rhythms
• Cycles of activities have tremendous influences on problems
o Semester time influences targets and guardians on campus
o Community/shopping influences targets and guardians in car parks
• Different facilities have different cycles of activity
o Contribute to associated problems
• Charting the rhythm of crime and disorder events helps identify important activity cycles that may contribute to a problem
12
13Source: http://www.pdx.edu/cjpri/time-of-dayday-of-week-0
14Source: http://www.pdx.edu/cjpri/time-of-dayday-of-week-0
Categories of rhythms
• Ratcliffe identified three forms of temporal clustering
o Diffused patterns
▪ Events relatively evenly spread over the entire day
o Focused patterns
▪ Clustering is observed within distinct time ranges
▪ E.g., rush hours
o Acute patterns
▪ Events are tightly packed within small periods
▪ E.g., violence immediately following the closing of a bar
• These patterns can also be applied within a week
15
Looking for crime facilitators
• Crime facilitators help offenders commit crimes/acts of disorder
• Three main types of facilitators
o Physical
▪ Augment offenders’ capabilities
▪ Help offenders overcome prevention measures
▪ Trucks, phones, firearms, physical layout of the immediate environment CAN YOU THINK OF SOME EXAMPLES…..?
▪ Social
▪ Stimulate crime/disorder
▪ Enhance reward of crime, legitimise behaivour, encourage offending
▪ Wortley’s precipitators – e.g., crowds of young men, gangs, organised criminal networks
o Chemical
▪ Increase offenders’ abilities to ignore risks or social prohibitions (other potential impacts…?)
16
An example of facilitators
• Before mobile phones drug dealers often relied on pay phones
• Attempts to stop these physical facilitators included
o Ban/limit them from certain areas
o Install rotary dials to prevent them contacting pagers
o Blocking incoming calls
o Hot spot policing around these targets
o Limiting calls at certain times of day to operator-assisted or emergency calls only
17
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:At%26tPhone.JPG
Understanding crime from beginning to end
• Although crime may seem instant – there is always a sequence of steps involved
• Crime Scripts: Assumes that any crime requires a set of standard actions to be performed in a particular order
o Like the script of a play
o Scenes are sequential stages of the crime
o The case consists of criminals, victims, and bystanders
o The tools (facilitators) are props
18
Crime scripts can help manipulate opportunity
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The purpose of the Response
• The ultimate challenge of POP
o Now we’ve defined and analysed the problem, what do we do about it?
• Develop a response that will address at least two sides of the crime triangle
• Approach the development of the solution without any preconceived notion about what should be done
• Avoid reverting to traditional responses
• Be cautious in adopting a cookie-cutter implementation of successful strategies in other contexts
• Make sure the response is focused and directly linked to the findings of the analysis
20
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Find the owner of the problem
• Many problems arise through the failure of some institution to operate in a way that prevents crime
o Businesses, government agencies, etc. Example……?
• Solving problems usually requires active cooperation from the people/institutions that have failed to take responsibility for the conditions that led to the problem
• Three ownership questions
o Who owns the problem?
o Why has the owner allowed the problem to develop?
o What is required to get the owner to undertake prevention?
22
Why might the owner allow the problem to develop?
• Four generic explanations about why the owner let the problem develop
1. They were unable to prevent the crime
o Ignorance? Lack of resources?
2. They were unwilling to prevent the crime because they don’t think it’s their responsibility
o Focus on role of offenders, ignoring role of opportunity
3. They were unwilling to prevent the crime because they gain more by ignoring it
o Export cost of prevention onto others
4. They profit from the crime
o E.g., second hand shops that benefit from purchasing stolen goods OTHER EXAMPLES….?
23
What’s involved with getting the owner to undertake prevention?
24Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 44
Choose responses that are likely to be implemented
• Agreed upon responses will likely meet some basic requirements
o Not too ambitious or costly
o Focuses on near, direct causes – meaning it has a good chance of making an immediate impact
o Clearly articulated mechanism connecting the response to the problem
• 5 main obstacles to implementation
1. Unanticipated technical difficulties
2. Inadequate supervision of implementation
3. Failure to coordinate action among different agencies
4. Competing priorities
5. Unanticipated costs
25
Expect implementation problems when…
26Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 45
Why should we adopt this evidence-based approach?
27
• Our instincts, our knee-jerk reactions, and our gut impressions are often wrong
• Many evaluations of crime prevention programs find that the programs have no effect in reducing crime or recidivism
• Many programs that research has demonstrated to be ineffective are still widely used in policing
Evaluating POP outcomes
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• Variation in strength of design for evaluating POP interventions
o Influence the strength of the link you can draw between what you did (the intervention) and what you found (the impact on the problem)
o Internal validity – controlling relationship between manipulation and outcome
• Types of designs, with decreasing internal validity
o Randomized controlled experiments
o Quasi-experiments
▪ No random assignment to control or experimental condition
▪ Pre- and post-intervention comparison
▪ Control group and time series data
Process and impact evaluations
29Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 46
Interpreting evaluation results
30Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 46
Interpreting evaluation results
31Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 46
Consider all of your data sources
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• When you’re examining the kind of problem you’ve got, examine all the available information
• Agencies have a range of data they can consider
o Police - calls for service, arrest, charge
o By-law complaints
o Fire service activity
o Child-services
• Triangulate available information
• Other simple tools to assist above…?
What would success look like?
• The level and/or type of feedback you examine depends on the nature of the problem that’s been selected
• Eck and Spelman identified 6 different feedback levels
o Total elimination of the problem
o Fewer incidents
o Less-serious or harmful incidents
o Better handling of the incidents/improved problem response
o Removing the problem from police consideration
o People who own the problem are left better equipped to handle a similar problem in the future
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Where to find useful examples
• www.popcenter.org/ - again…
• POP Guide Series
o Look at particular problems in-depth
o Response guides, problem-specific guides, and problem-solving tool guides
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POP in action is rarely linear
• Unfolding analysis can lead to refocusing the question
• Questions about possible responses can initiate additional analysis
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Case study: Burglaries from storage facilities
• Scanning
o 2005: Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD saw 28% increase in commercial burglaries
o 7% occurred in mini-warehouse or storage facilities
o Most incidents involved multiple storage units within a single facility
o Avg. 3.5 victims per incident
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• Analysis
o Read all 99 burglary reports
o 71 (72%) occurred at 1 of 28 facilities (4%) and accounted for 291 individual victims
o Storage locations mapped to examine correlation between facility location and surrounding crime problems – no relationship found
o Type of property being stolen examine – no clear pattern found
o A key difference across facilities was the type of locks – disc locks appeared to be the most resistant to burglary
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Case study: Burglaries from storage facilities
• Response
o Test hypothesis about effectiveness of disc locks in preventing burglary
o 3 locations established
o Police purchased locks to be used at these locations
o Police collaborated with storage facility managers to develop a ‘best practices’ guide
▪ Background checks on customers
▪ Educating customers on burglary prevention
▪ Restricting access to lockers to times when on-site managers present
▪ Encouraging use of disc locks
▪ Improving lighting
▪ Using CCTV
▪ Providing police access codes to enter facilities
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Case study: Burglaries from storage facilities
• Assessment
o 58% reduction in burglary incidents 1-year post-implementation at participating facilities
o Disc lock hypothesis further supported by
▪ 1 participating facility that experienced a burglary had one incident with 26 separate storage units broken into
▪ None of these units had a disc lock
▪ This incident accounted for 79% of the units burglaries to lockers during the 1-year period
o Signs that offenders moved to more suitable targets
▪ 39% increase in burglaries at facilities not involved in the study
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Case study: Burglaries from storage facilities
Things for you to think about
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• Use the information about the following case studies (S and A steps of SARA) – how would you respond and evaluate?
o Abandoned buildings
o Illegal dumping of household rubbish
o Thefts from cars on campus (do you know of anyone who has something stolen from their car where you may park in Singapore..?)
o All of the sides of the crime/problem triangle
• What types of data would you want to have to make the decision/develop the plan
• At a high-level, what types of interventions might work to address this problem
• At a high-level, what types of process and impact outcomes might you measure to see if the intervention worked?
Abandoned buildings: SARA…
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• Sides of the crime triangle
• Data you’d want in an ideal world
• Types of interventions we could try
• What would success look like (process and impact)?
Illegal dumping: SARA…
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• Sides of the crime triangle
• Data you’d want in an ideal world
• Types of interventions we could try
• What would success look like (process and impact)?
Thefts from cars: SARA…
43
• Sides of the crime triangle
• Data you’d want in an ideal world
• Types of interventions we could try
• What would success look like (process and impact)?
Part 2)
Regulation, Super Controllers, and Prevention
Reading:
(Required) Eck., J.E., & Eck. E. (2012). Crime place and pollution: expanding crime reduction options through a regulatory approach. Criminology and Public Policy, 11(2), 281- 316
(Required) Sampson, Eck, and Dunham (2010). Super controllers and crime prevention: a routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure. Security Journal, 23, 37-51
Overview for Part 2)
• The crime triangle so far and the connection to targeted prevention
• The addition of super controllers
A case study on the role of super controllers in prevention
o Abandoned buildings
o SUPER-CONTROLLERS AND COVID-19..? ARE WE ALL SUPER-CONTROLLERS NOW AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE READ ON THESE SLIDES..?
45
• Started as an explanation for predatory crime
• Physical convergence in space and time of 3 minimal elements
Routine activities theory (Felson)
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Alert: Routine Activities Theory can be examined in broader terms than the crime triangle
In the last or second last lecture I will present a broader version of RAT that will examine:
• Broader social change and its effects on crime
• Sources of guardianship that are very different from formal guardianship exerted or influenced by police: ‘most guardianship stems from the less obvious routine behaviour of ordinary citizens intentionally or unintentionally looking out for each other’
• Trends in crime affected by broader ‘routines’
• Policy that fails or is overwhelmed by change so that the distribution of crime changes – e.g domestic violence
• But the crime triangle does provide a concrete ‘grounding’ for action and policy
• The problem analysis triangle was derived from routine activity theory about how and why crime occurs at a specific time in a specific place
http://www.popcenter.org/
The problem analysis triangle
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Assumptions
a) Some offences are new and ‘innovative’ (responding to new opportunities) – e.g. cell phone cloning, ram raiding, credit card fraud with ‘tap and go’, etc. etc.
b) Others are ‘old’ crimes and there are known prevention measures that could be taken (by controllers)
c) Most are of type b, so should be able to be prevented or at least reduced
d) Super-controllers are relevant to type b.
Find the owner of the problem
• Many problems arise through the failure of some institution to operate in a way that prevents crime
o Businesses, government agencies, etc.
• Solving problems usually requires active cooperation from the people/institutions that have failed to take responsibility for the conditions that led to the problem
• Three ownership questions
o Who owns the problem?
o Why has the owner allowed the problem to develop?
o What is required to get the owner to undertake prevention?
50
Why might the owner allow the problem to develop?
• Four generic explanations
1. They were unable to prevent the crime
o Ignorance? Lack of resources?
2. They were unwilling to prevent the crime because they don’t think it’s their responsibility
o Focus on role of offenders, ignoring role of opportunity
3. They were unwilling to prevent the crime because they gain more by ignoring it
o Export cost of prevention onto others
4. They profit from the crime
o E.g., second hand shops that benefit from purchasing stolen goods
51
What’s involved with getting the owner to undertake prevention?
52Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 44
Is there a framework to help us do this…?
What if…
• An apartment complex owner says they’ve done all they can do to stop dealing in the building (but they really haven’t)
• Manager of a prostitution hot spot motel/venue says he can’t raise room rates or request ID because corporate won’t let him
• Security guard ignores rowdy youth hassling shoppers
• Mother doesn’t protect her young daughter from the clutches of her sexually abusive boyfriend
• Soccer/Football coach ignores ‘hazing’ (bastardisation/abuse) of junior players
• Parents allow under age son and his under age friends to have drinking party at their house after their Year 12 ball (parenting? in a direct sense)
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Source: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/572/22384480644_014fc5d3d2_b.jpg
Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
In crime triangle terms…
• An apartment complex owner says they’ve done all they can do to stop dealing in the building (but they really haven’t)
• Manager of a prostitution hot spot motel says he can’t raise room rates or request ID because corporate won’t let him
• Security guard ignores rowdy youth hassling shoppers
• Mom doesn’t protect her young daughter from the clutches of her sexually abusive boyfriend
• College football coach ignores hazing of junior players
• Parents allow under age son and his under age friends to have drinking party at their house after their Year 12 ball
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Source: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/572/22384480644_014fc5d3d2_b.jpg
Manager failure
Guardian failure
Handler failure
Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Controllers have lots of tools, but sometimes fail to use them
• Thinking of an apartment complex owner…
o Landlord tenant laws
o Lease provisions
o Eviction
o Apartment inspections
o Refuse to accept cash
o Reference checks of prospective tenants
o Criminal background checks
o Limit buyer’s access
o Landlord training
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Sometimes it’s the police who tell controllers they have lots of tools
What if the controllers don’t use them?
Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
How do you make controllers use the available tools?
• Super controllers!
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Source: http://www.curtoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/superman-logo-pop-art.jpg
• Most recently, Eck has expended the triangle to explore the higher-level influence of super controllers
o Influence handlers, place-managers, and guardians to make cost-benefit decisions that reduce the likelihood of problems occurring
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Super controllers into the crime triangle
Who are super controllers?
• Super controllers are
o Institutions
o Organisations
o People that can provide incentives to controllers to act in ways that
prevent crime
• Incentives can be positive or negative
o Think operant conditioning in action…
58 Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Super controllers exert indirect influence on problems
• Super controllers get things done by acting against the middle triangle
• Indirect effects – they are part of the chain of pressure
• They don’t aim to directly influence the innermost triangle
• Any entity that operates on the elements of the inner triangle is, by definition, a controller
59 Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Working the triangles…
• Need to think about two things:
1. Who are the controllers (2nd layer of the triangle)
o What tools do they have to reduce the problem?
2. Who can be a super controller who might be in a position to make the controller(s) do their job
o What tools do they have to reduce the problem?
60Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Police can alert super controllers to encourage them to act
• Sometimes police are the ones who need to alert a super controller
o Advise them of the problem
o Explain how they can influence the situation to reduce the problem
• Example
o Police contact banks that hold mortgage on a property being used to grow
marijuana
o Intent is to encourage the bank to put pressure on the landlord and
building owner
61Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Super controllers can also be effective without police
• Sometimes it’s the super controllers themselves that provide the push for change
o Florida, US: the top bankers group recommended adoption of a security dress code –
“hats off” for banking customers
o Pressure was put on Facebook.com by a US State Attorney General to agree to put in
better safeguards to protect young users from predators and cyber bullies (Facebook
may not be the perfect super-controller given recent experience with data security,
but COULD be a strong influence)
o In 2019 think of the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack – criticism
of Social Media by the Australian Prime Minister – can you think of some
Singapore examples..?
• To liaise with super controllers, solid problem analysis is a must
o Demonstrate the benefit to the super controller of their intervention (change)
o This may be the key to motivating their action and engagement
62Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Super controllers have lots of powers
• Influence
• Warnings
• Threats
• Ex-communication
• Conditional use permits
• Business license reviews
• Design improvements
• Civil and criminal law suits
• Incentives
• Though no single super controller has all of the powers…
OTHERS..?
63Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
• Organisational
o Members of an organisation enforce compliance with organisation to curb crime/problems
o E.g., nightclub chain has its nightclubs switch to polycarbonate bottles/glasses to reduce assaults in/around club
• Contractual
o The super controller has a contract with the controller to provide goods and services
o E.g., Building owner ends lease with problem licensed venue that refuses to take measures to curb violence from patrons
• Financial
o A financial institution puts pressure on a controller to reduce crime or risk a costly change in relationship
o E.g., insurance company pressures a rental car company to reduce thefts of its rental vehicles or will raise its insurance rates
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Formal super controllers
Source: Sampson, Eck, & Dunham (2010) Super controllers and crime prevention: a routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure
• Regulatory
o An agency with authority to demand compliance to rules with the threat of sanctions for non-compliance
o E.g., State liquor and gaming inspects night clubs for underage drinking and cites the club when it’s observed. State fire service inspects night clubs for breaching venue capacity and cites the club when it is over capacity
o Do they fail..? Australian Banking Royal Commission ASIC..! (Inquests….?) Can you think of a commission of inquiry in your jurisdiction.?
• Courts
o Court orders controller to act in a manner that reduces crime (often as a result of a civil suit)
o E.g., Nuisance abatement projects where property owners who consistently fail to address problems on their property are sued in court to compel them to comply or face closure of their business
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Formal super controllers
Source: Sampson, Eck, & Dunham (2010) Super controllers and crime prevention: a routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure
66
How do super controllers work?
Mechanism of influence Type of influence
Formal Organisational
Contractual
Financial
Regulatory
Courts
Diffuse Political
Markets
Media
Personal Groups
Family
Collections of entities that influence many controllers in a general, non-specific way
• Political
o Elected or appointed officials make legislative or other changes in other government practices
o E.g., State legislature passes laws requiring pharmacies to control/restrict pseudoephedrine sales
• Markets
o Competition in the controllers business area induces compliance
o E.g., Publicity over varying risks of crime induce business to compete to be safer shopping locations
• Media
o Media attention (or the possibility of it) embarrasses a controller to act
o E.g., A news investigation of the management of a local homeless shelter funded by the city reveals that their practices contribute to victimisation of homeless men at the shelter, such that they are forced to address their operating procedures and staffing because of the negative attention
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Diffuse super controllers
Source: Sampson, Eck, & Dunham (2010) Super controllers and crime prevention: a routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure
68
How do super controllers work?
Mechanism of influence Type of influence
Formal Organisational
Contractual
Financial
Regulatory
Courts
Diffuse Political
Markets
Media
Personal Groups
FamilyRely on personal and informal sets of connections to alter behaviour
• Groups
o Group influences place manager to act differently – the equivalent of peer pressure for adults and/or organisations
o E.g., Downtown business group apply pressure on small convenience stores that are selling super cheap alcohol which is causing drunkenness and social disorder in the area
• Family
o One family member exerts pressure on a second member to control a third member – a relationship that probably involves a handling failure
o E.g., Parents work with children so they learn how to curb delinquent behaviour of peers
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Personal super controllers
Source: Sampson, Eck, & Dunham (2010) Super controllers and crime prevention: a routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure
• Lots of people can activate super controllers
• Ideally super controllers act without police
o This may be the norm
o Only failures for controllers and/or super controllers come to police attention
• Sometimes the police must call in the super controllers
o Police are the last stop – they have to deal with things others can ignore
70
Who activates the super controller?
Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
71
How do you get super controllers to act?
Mechanism of influence Type of influence
Formal Organisational
Contractual
Financial
Regulatory
Courts
Diffuse Political
Markets
Media
Personal Groups
Family
Manipulated by risk, reward,
effort, excuses, & provocations, as per rational
choice and situational prevention
This is where that framework fits in…
72Source: Crime analysis for problem solvers in 60 small steps – step 44
• Need to determine whether the super controller is part of the problem – different strategies depending on this
• There are multiple ways to reduce crime and other public safety problems
• This framework gets controllers to do the right thing
• Potential for larger-scale reductions
• Can create sustainable gains
• Apportions responsibility for problems fairly
• Lots of the best POP projects involve super controllers
73
Crime reduction implications for super controllers
Source: Sampson & Eck (2008) Super controllers: can I be your superman? Conference presentation at the 2008 Problem-Oriented Policing conference
Abandoned buildings and super controllers
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Abandoned buildings and super controllers
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Abandoned buildings and super controllers
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• Increase effort
o Harden target (locks, cctv, boarding up, etc.)
o Control access to facilities (locks, cctv, alarms, repair damaged
doors/windows)
o Deflect offenders (target motivated metal thieves)
• Increase risks
o Extend guardianship to the worst problem properties (formal or
informal)
o Reduce anonymity through a registry of neglectful building
managers
o Use cost-recovery model for paying for formal surveillance
Abandoned buildings and super controllers
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• Reduce rewards
o Remove targets by forcing building owners to demolish buildings
within a certain period of time
o Disrupt markets for stolen metal in the area
o Deny benefits of letting buildings decay – cost-recovery of
demolition costs and calls for service sent to building owner
• Reduce provocations
o Reduce frustrations by streamlining demolition and development
processes
o Discourage imitations by being seen to take a consistent
approach to managing problem properties
Abandoned buildings and super controllers
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• Remove excuses
o Set clear rules for new developers when permits are applied for
o Post instructions to new developers about their responsibility to
maintain security at their sites
o Alert conscience of new developers through education
o Assist compliance by streamlining the demolition and
development process
Final thoughts
• Super controllers add another prevention-focused dimension to the problem analysis triangle
• These can be leveraged using the same principles that have been discussed for the controllers, previously
o Good data analysis and problem definition
o Connection between problem and intervention
o 25 techniques
o Working in partnership
• Thinking through the SARA process, it’s important to consider the potential benefits of working with super controllers
• WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ‘SUPER-CONTROLLERS’ AND THE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS….! IS IT AT WORK HERE? ARE WE ALL SUPER-CONTROLLERS WITH MONITORING OUR FELLOW CITIZENS.?
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Next Lecture
The role of policing in prevention – Part’s I & II
Reading:
(Required) Weisburd & Telep (2014). Hot spots policing: what we know and what we need to know. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 30(2), 200-220.
(Required) Segrave, M., and Ratcliffe, J. (2004). Community policing: a descriptive overview. Australian Institute of Criminology
