NCJ Number
210998
Journal
Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 19-35
Date Published
2005
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Emanating from an evaluation of a burglary reduction initiative in the England tourist area of Sunnybay and duplicated in a comparable district, Funland, this paper assesses the extent and distribution of hotel crime in the two districts and offers an explanation for the lack of concern over hotel crime.
Abstract
Relatively little research exists on hotel crime and even less on hotel crime in tourist areas. However, in England and Wales, burglary reduction programs have received considered funding with some commercial premises targeted as projects. One such project involved the Sunnybay Hotels Burglary initiative which covered a virtual community of hotels that had allegedly been seen as easy targets for the criminal element. Police data showed a high rate of burglary with significant levels of repeat victimization. In addition to the assessment of Sunnybay hotels, a control area, Funland, also a tourist area, was included to assess whether the level of hotel burglary in the target area was duplicated in a comparable district. This paper uses police data and other sources to assess the extent and distribution of hotel crime in the two districts. In addition, it focuses on the disparity between risk and perceptions of risk and considers the implications of this for crime reduction initiatives. Despite the extent of crime against hotels, data and structured interviews show that hoteliers do not perceive crime as a particular problem. Unless key players are committed to ongoing initiatives and identify the problem, hotel crime, as well as tourist crime cannot be tackled effectively. Tables, notes, references