Abstract
Some security devices can be ugly, inconvenient or an infringement on civil liberties. This means that security is a quality of life issue as well as one of crime prevention. Here we propose that, in addition to preventing crime and being cost effective, security should preferably be ethical and unobtrusive, aesthetically neutral or pleasing, and the easy-to-use or default option. We describe security with such characteristics as ‘elegant’. We use two case studies to explore how, as many types of crime have declined in recent decades, there was an increase in elegant and a decrease in inelegant security. We suggest that the lifecycle of some security technologies sees them evolve from inelegant to elegant, that continual improvement is required to keep ahead of offender adaptations, and that inelegant security can fall into disuse even if it prevents crime. It is hoped that this conceptual contribution might inform discussions about the appropriate form and role of security.
Highlights
The way we live and the way we experience life are partly shaped by our concerns with security
The characteristics of elegant security that we describe are, we suggest, more widely applicable, and in passing we touch on airport security, secure design of consumer products and aspects of policing
Our main concern here is with elegant security pertaining to security devices, the conceptualization of elegance applies to the broader areas of situational crime prevention, problem-oriented policing and designingout crime
Summary
The way we live and the way we experience life are partly shaped by our concerns with security. Many security devices and practices contribute to reductions in the real risks faced by citizens and do so unobtrusively, producing a net social benefit – a concept we return to later It has the default condition of secure rather than insecure It is aesthetically neutral or pleasing It has a powerful preventive mechanism It is principled in ethical terms, consistent with liberty and freedom in society It is effortless, taking little or no time and effort to engage It is rewarding in cost–benefit terms. Window etching, despite being the default, fairly aesthetically neutral, principled and effortless, does not work to prevent crime This comparison supports the conceptualization of elegance in terms of a combination of characteristics. What we conclude is that the least elegant forms of household security are not responsible for the decline in crime, and we conjecture that this is contrary to popular perception
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