NCJ Number
218075
Date Published
April 2007
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This guide serves as an introduction to risky facilities and shows how the concept can aid problem-oriented policing efforts by providing answers to several key questions.
Abstract
One important principle of crime prevention holds that crime is highly concentrated among particular people, places, and things. The principle suggests that resources focus on these concentrations which will likely yield the greatest preventive benefits. A risky facility (i.e., bars, schools, convenience stores, and parking lots) is a recently described theory of crime concentration holding great promise for problem-oriented policing. The theory postulates that only a small proportion of any specific type of facility will account for the majority of crime and disorder problems experienced or produced by the group of facilities as a whole. This guide attempts to provide answers to the following identified key questions: what are risky facilities, how widespread are risky facilities, how is the concept of risk facilities different from hot spots and repeat victimization, how can the concept of risky facilities assist problem-oriented policing projects, how can risk be measured, how is the concentration of risk among facilities calculated, why do facilities vary in risk, how are risk factors identified for a particular group of facilities, and how can risk be reduced? Tables, notes, and references