Commercial Security Field Test Program: Impact of Security Surveys on Commercial Crime

• NCJ Number: 127078
• Author(s): J M Tien; M F Cahn
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 35 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-NI-AX-0105
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Public Systems Evaluation, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The Commercial Security Field Test (CSFT) Program was developed to address the effectiveness of security against commercial crimes, especially burglary.

Abstract

The CSFT program was carried out in three cities -- Denver (Colorado), Long Beach (California), and St. Louis (Missouri) -- and included conducting security surveys of 430 commercial establishments located in 10 commercial areas throughout the 3 cities. It was found that the use of security surveys can be effective against commercial crimes, but only if the treatment is adequate -- that is, the survey recommendations are systematically identified and complied with. Interestingly, this finding suggests that the traditional manner of conducting security surveys -- in which neither the systematic identification of the survey recommendations nor their compliance is emphasized -- is totally inadequate. 25 references, 10 exhibits, and appendix