NCJ Number
215970
Journal
Crime Prevention & Community Safety Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2006 Pages: 137-149
Date Published
July 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Based on the findings of two research studies, this paper presents a crime-risk assessment mechanism (the Burgess mechanism) that British architectural liaison officers and crime prevention design advisors can use to predict the vulnerability of residential housing to burglary and other crimes.
Abstract
The research studies identified 13 residential environmental factors significantly associated with the risk of burglary. The Burgess mechanism is a checklist of questions that scores these 13 factors for the residence being assessed. These 13 factors are scored under the following 7 categories: proximity to open land, road layout, barriers (real or symbolic), footpath patterns adjacent to the residence, pedestrian movement in the vicinity of the residence, signs of a neighborhood watch scheme, and signs that residents are not at home. One of the research studies from which the Burgess mechanism was derived was conducted in Great Britain between 2000 and 2001. It involved an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Secured by Design (SBD) scheme. An assessment of the features of 1,058 residences determined that properties built to the SBD standards were less likely to experience burglary and total crime than housing that lacked SBD features. The second research study, which was conducted between 2000 and 2005, identified which environmental factors were linked to crime risk. These findings were used to develop the Burgess mechanism. 3 tables, 28 references, and appended list of 33 environmental risk factors from which the 13 were selected