Urban planning and residential burglary outcomes: Fid-Bau Portal

Urban planning and residential burglary outcomes

DeFrances, Carol J. / Titus, Richard M.

AbstractCrime disorder, and fear can erode the hearts of neighborhoods and cities and undo the best efforts of planners, but planners typically have not made crime central to their concerns. This paper examines the crime of burglary, which may appear to be benign relative to the more violent forms of crime in the United States, but in its consequences for victims can be quite severe. Since burglars use features of the environment to increase their payoffs while reducing their risks, planners can help to thwart them. The burglary process unfolds in phases, and can be interrupted by the offender at any point at which the information available to the burglar at that point does not satisfy his criteria as to the ratio of risk versus reward. The research reported on here examines the phase where the burglar has already selected a house as a target and has begun the attempt to enter it. Whether the burglary is completed or aborted was found to be associated with neighborhood disorganization and home occupancy; other factors assumed to be important at this phase of the process, such as burglar alarms, extra locks on doors, etc., did not prove to be so. Neighborhood disorganization and home occupancy are both sensitive to programs and variables influenced by planners. Through trying to understand and control burglary, planners can develop approaches that will enable them to help deal with other forms of crime as well.