Effective interventions for tackling neighbourhood crime
A number of interventions have been identified that can be used to tackle neighbourhood crime. The majority of these interventions are related to burglary, but some interventions can be applied to more than one crime type.
Interventions with strong or moderately strong evidence of effectiveness are given below.
For burglary, these include:
- physical security
- alley-gating
- Neighbourhood Watch
- interventions for repeat and near-repeat victims (cocooning)
For robbery, these include:
- street lighting
- road and pathway design
For vehicle crime, these include:
- CCTV
- secure car parking
- vehicle security devices
For all crime types, these include:
- crime prevention advice
- publicity
It is unusual for interventions to be used in isolation. Many crime prevention programmes use a range of different interventions to address crime problems.
Taking a problem-solving approach will enable the selection of appropriately targeted interventions and can promote sustained reductions in crime.
Partner involvement is critical for situational crime prevention, as it often involves changes to the built environment.