60 Steps Revisited: Step 40 - Increase The Risks of Crime

Back in 2009, I did a series of posts covering the excellent book Crime Analysis For Problem Solvers. The book is published by the US DOJ's Problem Oriented Policing Center (POP Center). Because of the value I think this book has for crime analysts, and policing in general, I am going to re-post this series on here on the blog.

I've been blogging through chapters of the excellent book Crime Analysis For Problem Solvers for some time here on The Crime Analyst's Blog. In this post we are up to Step 40 - Increase The Risks of Crime.

The authors have a great bit in the very first sentence of this chapter. They say:

According to interviews with offenders, they worry more about the risks of being apprehended than about the consequences if they are caught.

They go onto explain that this may be because offenders can't avoid punishment if caught, but they can avoid getting caught in the first place. Of course, the cynic in me also thinks that the old cop mantra of "you can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride" may be the real reason with the initial arrest being much more punishment than would ever be meted out through the courts.

However, while the crook tries hard to avoid getting caught, anything we can do to increase the chances that they will get caught increases the risk to the offender. In increasing the risks of crime, we may be able to discourage the commission of many crimes.

The authors suggest five ways to increase the risks of crime.

• Extend guardianship
• Assist natural surveillance
• Reduce anonymity
• Use place managers
• Strengthen formal surveillance

The authors include quite a number of suggestions for each of these categories. You can read the entire chapter with these suggestions here.

Next time, we'll look at Step 41 - Reduce The Rewards of Crime.