NCJ Number
84961
Date Published
Unknown
Length
126 pages
Annotation
The experimental program tested the effectiveness of crime prevention surveys in commercial establishments in reducing burglary, larceny, robbery, and the associated cost and fear of crime.
Abstract
Three cities participated in the program; St. Louis, Denver, and Long Beach, Calif. The program was implemented in eight St. Louis commercial areas, selected after extensive data analysis and physical review. Four matched pairs of sites were selected through the use of crime, demographic, and physical characteristic data. One site in each pair was then designated the target site, while the other was designated the control site. A total of 239 original commercial crime prevention surveys were conducted in the target sites during the 5-month period from October 1980 through February 1981. The target site surveys resulted in the development of 1,219 recommendations to overcome security weaknesses. Suggested improvements for physical security deficiencies accounted for 62 percent of the recommendations, while the remaining 38 percent were recommendations for improvements in the establishments' operational procedures. Efforts to monitor project performance involved following up on each subsequent victimization of a target site business previously surveyed. Target site businesses experienced 60 burglaries following their original surveys, with 35 percent of these deemed unpreventable. Footnotes, survey forms, tables, and appended survey materials are included. (Author summary modified)