Chapter 13 - Environmental Crime Control

Abstract

There is a danger in thinking that once security measures have been implemented, there will never be a crime again or unwanted activity in the same area; however, crime may or may not occur. This chapter provides an overview of the main existing environmental crime control theories and explains the theory application aids in informed crime control decisions. Environmental crime practitioners focus their attention and energies on locations of potential criminal activity and seek to explain them in terms of environmental influences. From these explanations they derive rules to be made about emerging crime problems and that ultimately inform the development of strategies that might be employed to prevent crime. Various environmental crime control theories are rationale choice theory, displacement of crime, diffusion of benefits, routine activity theory, crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED), and defensible space theory. CPTED, probably the most well known of the environmental crime control theories has three key concepts; use of natural surveillance, use of natural access control, and territorial behavior. The defensible space theory revolves around the public housing environment and seeks to reduce crime through the use of natural surveillance, natural access control, and territorial concern. The theories, rational choice, routine activities, CPTED, and defensible space techniques, comprise an important basis for explaining some of the root causes of certain crimes that may occur repeatedly in specific locations. However, a detailed study of the criminal area with the accompanying rationale should reduce the criminal opportunity.