Designing out crime in Western Australia: a case study

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present developments in designing out crime policy in Western Australia (WA) as a case study example, discussing the innovative designing out crime strategy, a systematic attempt at embedding such ideas within government policy.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports on the systems approach adopted by the WA Government, which draws together three key themes of designing out crime, namely: the design of the built environment, the ongoing management of the built environment and the use of product design to reduce opportunities for crime. The systems perspective is underpinned by an evidence‐based approach across these three areas.Findings – Many existing international approaches to designing out crime are arguably limited, piecemeal and largely uncoordinated. This strategy represents a comprehensive and holistic policy commitment to designing out crime.Research limitations/implications – The effectiveness of this strategy is as yet unknown, but it arguably ...