Criminal=> Crime prevention

Question 1

Key research=> Wilson + Kelling

The police + neighbourhood safety: broken windows

Answer 1

Background=

• Cause of crime in neighbourhoods= disorder- graffiti/drugs
• A way to prevent crime= stop minor disorder from escalating into more serious crimes
• Broken windows= if not repeated- doesn’t matter if rest are broken

Police patrols=

• Tackling minor disorder from growing=> increase number of foot patrols from police officers
• New Jersey did this=> was unpopular with police officers + after 5 years it showed to have no decrease in crime rates but they didn’t increase either

Benefits of having more police patrols=

• Residents felt more secure + didn’t hide indoors due to fear of crime
• Residents felt safer to go outside= more difficult for crimes to be committed without being seen
• They set up informal rules that regular minor offenders followed as they had a personal relationship with the officer=> drinking was not allowed on main streets but side streets

Wilson + Kelling=> if disorder gets out of hand than communities collapse= individuals keep to themselves + serious crimes develop

• But there aren’t enough police resources to watch + arrest everyone who commits a small crime
• Police should focus on maintaining order rather than fighting crimes once they happen

Weaknesses of theory=

• Not useful if the government is unwilling to spend money on more policing
• Theory can also lack validity as the link between minor disorder leading to serious crime is not proven with statistics
• Reductionist=> focuses on social factors + ignores biological/behaviourist factors

Question 2

Newman=> defensible space

Answer 2

Investigating different designs of housing on crime rates

High rise flats= higher levels of crime

Separate buildings designed around communal courtyards= lower levels of crime

• Courtyards= more surveillance
• Residents took more care of communal areas
• Children played outside + parents watched= sense of community

Factors to create defensible space=

• Opportunities for surveillance= people are easily spotted
• Image= personalising housing= sense of ownership

Question 3

Zero tolerance policy in NY

Answer 3

Police take minor crime seriously
Zero tolerance at NY city Transit Authority
-Officers sent to subway + arrest 10-20 fare dodgers each time
-Message that crimes were harder to get away with got around
-Policies were widened to whole of NY city (7,000 extra officers)=> arresting people for minor offences

:) Arrests for serious crime feel by 22%
:) Other places in county took up policy + crime fell
:( But reduced crime could have been because of big increase of police officers
:( Some areas didn’t have same effect

Question 4

Brown=> CCTV in town centres

Answer 4

Analysed reported crime data in town centres (Newcastle) before + after cameras

• Number of reports of criminal damage reduced by 34%
• CCTV most effective where large groups congregate

But=> instead of preventing crime + just displaces it to other areas
-CCTV in London Underground stations=> criminals just moved to other stations

Question 5

Ernest-Jones=> Eyes on posters

Answer 5

Having eyes on posters lead to people being more cooperative

• Posters with either eyes or flowers in a uni
• Eye posters lead to 50% reduction in littering=> compared to posters with flowers