NCJ Number
188773
Journal
Environment and Behavior Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2001 Pages: 368-388
Editor(s)
Robert B. Bechtel
Date Published
May 2001
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined the role that parks’ environmental features played in the perpetration of auto burglary across the course of a criminal event.
Abstract
Although large numbers of crimes are committed in parks each year, little systematic study has been undertaken of crime in parks or of the relationship between offender behavior and park features such as vegetation. This article was based on a case study of auto burglary in Washington, D.C. and examined the relationship between park setting and auto burglary. The study included a focus group, extensive on-site interviews with plainclothes police, and analysis of crime sites to reveal the scripts and behaviors of auto burglars. The results suggested that environmental features were used by offenders supporting their criminal activities in parks. Yet, these features were neither necessary nor sufficient determinants of crime. Offenders adapt their behaviors to the opportunities and risks provided by each setting. A park’s physical features can reduce effort and risk by offering concealment, which was necessary for identifying targets and for sorting stolen property. The single most important feature identified was the presence of easy, rewarding targets, tourists’ cars. Reasonable prevention measures suggested included: the disruption of those offender routines that enhanced opportunities for burglary, and establishment of coin access or other controls on public restrooms to reduce opportunities to examine and discard stolen property. The knowledge of these environmental features allowed park managers to evaluate crime risk and opportunity and formulate response strategies. References