Let’s beat crime!

Crime in the UK has changed over the last decade, but as society and technology have evolved, new crime challenges have emerged. COVID-19 is just one example of how our society has drastically altered how we behave. This has made thieves alter their targets and modus operandi.

Changing people’s behaviour is of course one aspect of crime reduction, but design also has an important role to play in preventing crime and reducing criminal activity without compromising the enjoyment and usability of products, places and services by legitimate users. 
 

Central in designing out crime remains being focused on those you are designing for, as well as those you are designing to thwart.

One of the services we provide is to advise businesses and housing developers on potential avenues for crime to encroach on peoples lives in the future. Being aware of the potential ways that anti-social behaviour and crime can be designed out of new buildings is a vital one. This will increase the positive image of the construction industry, from architects to engineers, and their finished products. Allowing the end user to enjoy a high quality experience in their new home or office, reducing their fear of crime, and chances of being a victim.

If designers consider the ways in which the object, systems or environments they are designing might be susceptible to crime and do this early enough in the design process, they can prevent crime from occurring, or at least reduce the opportunities for offender behaviour.

This might mean, for example, product designers understanding more about how portable consumer electronics like mobile phones, iPads, sat navs and game consoles are attractive to thieves because they are small, valuable and easy to re-sell. Interior designers working on bar and restaurant projects might need to think about how the layout of interior space and the furniture they specify
can help prevent thefts of and from customers’ bags, or how the design of bathrooms and toilets can help prevent illegal drug use. Similarly, designers of bicycles, cycling accessories and street furniture might need to understand how and when bicycle theft most often occurs.

Designing out crime from the start

It is important to understand that designing out crime is not simply a case of designing better locks and bolts. For it to be most effective (and cost effective), crime prevention needs to be designed-in at the start of a project, where it is able to influence choices and behaviour, not added on at the end.