Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Types of crime and their trends

Discuss About The Crime Prevention Throe Environmental Design.

In the recent past, there has been an evolution in crime in our society. This report focuses on most issues related to crime such as theft, murder, terrorism, gender and the involvement of the youth in criminal activities. Information on this surveillance was sourced from different secondary sources and also through observation (Andrejevic and Gates 2014).

The rate of some crimes has increased gradually while some crimes have reduced significantly in the society. Some form of crime such as motor vehicle theft, unlawful entry with intent has diminished while crimes such as murder and murder with intent fall into this category as well. In manslaughter related crimes it is found out that most assault weapons happen to be a knife and these incidences occur mostly in private places. Other crimes such as sexual assault and blackmail and extortion have also increased (Cook 2015).

Crime committed by women have increased gradually over the decade. In the case of gender, women have been accused of theft as the principal offence while as for men their principal offense is wanting to physically harm others and causing disturbance to the public within the society. (Andrejevic and Gates 2014).

Sexual assaults committed against women is higher compared to sexual assaults committed against men. In domestic situations crime against women is higher, these crimes involve abuses such as beating and sexual abuse where most of these cases go unreported.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets vulnerable youths in a country for recruitments through social media and encourage local jihad activities. Some of those recruited have been minors’ even students who are even taught how to make homemade bombs

From September 2014 to January 2017 there have been only four terrorist attacks. There were also some other 12 plots which were disrupted. These attacks were carried out by ISIS in Australia.

In as much as we try to curb looting in the country, it seems like it cannot be truly eradicated, there have been acts of robbery and robbery with violence through the years, and the youth seem prevalent in such crimes.

Watching of violent programmes by the youth has increased their involvement in crime since some young people are unable to differentiate between fiction and reality.

Recent studies show that the number of youths who are involved in crime related offences and also those who are being supervised is decreasing for some reason.

Gender and crime

Certain high-end areas have been targeted as areas more prone to armed robbery though crime and robbery are prone in the ghetto.

There is a group of robbers who commit a crime and hide in bushes and are referred to as bushrangers. The number of bushrangers seems to be declining.

Identity theft, infringement, money laundering, copyright infringement, fraud, insider trading bribery are some common white collar crimes in the country which have been on the rise because the penalties of these crimes seem not to frighten the offenders. .

Insider trading is a criminal offense that has been going on for so many years. People participate in this act with hopes of getting a lot of profit but that has not been the case due to ongoing investigations about insider trading. 

A lot of people tend to think that white collar crime is a victimless crime but that is not the case; people cheated out of their money suffer financially. Some are people who are trying to run businesses, and these businesses suffer a great loss (Fuchs and Trottier 2015).

The society relies on technology too much which gives rise to cybercrimes. Thousands of people are victims of a scam involving the western union. Scammers are sending emails from Gmail accounts pretending to be the government and other bodies and asking people for their details such as passwords and they use this to steal from businesses.

The crime justice department is struggling to fight cybercrimes which is on the rise that has led the government to establish a network that deals in and investigates cybercrimes and also assists the victims of such crime.

The police department has contributed greatly in reducing crime with their specialized training in dealing with lawbreakers

Areas, where police have been patrolling on the regular, have reported less number of crimes as compared to areas where the police do not frequent. The police in uniform also scare people who are about to commit a crime.

The police response to calls relayed to them is fairly impressive and has led to criminals being caught in the act and preventing loss of life and property.

It should be noted that some offenders who have been shot by police in crime related incidences have been found to suffer from a form of mental illness.

Conclusion

Throughout human history the society has always been faced with issues such as crime. The government needs to invest in combating crime more through various ways with education being the best way to reduce crime. (Hendrix, Taniguchi, Strom, Barrick and Johnson 2018).

Youth involvement in crime

The issue of inadequate education in the society has led to people committing crimes such as murder when having disagreements with other members of the society to exact revenge upon them instead of just having a normal talk with the involved persons. An educated person knows this, and if they cannot solve their issues, they tend to involve the government and its laws through simple court proceedings (Kovandzic, Schaffer, Vieraitis, Orrick and Piquero 2016).

The number of youth involved in criminal activities is aggregated by the fact that most of them who commit crime stay out of school and education centers.

White collar crimes interfere with the poor and middle class from receiving their fair share of the national product hence hindering economic growth.

Economic and social stresses exert their effects on crime, poverty being the number one source of stress that leads people to the society into getting involved in crime. A lot of poor people who have nothing more to lose by breaking the laws hence will engage in crime without thinking much of the consequences (Abu-Laban 2015).

Underemployment and unemployment have also contributed to the general increase in crime. People in the society especially those who have families to feed and are underemployed or unemployed are more likely to turn to crime as compared to those who are comfortable with their salaries or are employed.

Jobs are extremely hard to find and a lot of young people in the society do not have jobs, with the financial crisis getting out of crime for those already involved can be a very hard thing since they would lose their source of income.

The increase in the number of drug abusers and alcoholism is another issue that has direct links to criminal activities. Majority of drug junkies spend a lot of money on purchasing of drugs, sometimes they ran out of money to fuel their drug addiction and turn to crimes. Alcoholics also tend to become physical with others and disturb public peace while under the influence, it is not uncommon to find offenses such as hit and run and forced entries performed by people who were intoxicated (Payne 2016).

The airing of violent TV programmes leads to the involvement of the youth in violent activities and sometimes crime. The use of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers have rendered the society suitable for cybercrimes and also cyberbullying to some extent. The society needs to be cautioned when it comes to giving their details on the internet (Dunham and Alpert 2015).

White collar crimes

Reasons for committing a crime in the society vary. Some people are motivated by jealousy, greed, anger and all these other negative human traits. Some people even commit crime because of the thrill it brings. We have cases where criminal mastermind execute a well-       planned crime after careful research. (Matos 2018).

It should be noted that the family backgrounds of children affects their characteristics and values that they will poses generally and even as adults when it comes to criminal activities. Those who and come from loving families who provide for them and are loved usually acquire a positive outlook in life and is rare to find them involved in criminal activities within the society as compared to children who were raised in violent homes or have gone through child protection services who are more likely to commit crime.

The justice department has been doing great in dealing with law breakers and should be acknowledged for their bravery, but we cannot expect them to counter all criminal activities especially since they are human too. There are cases where the law enforcers have been involved in the breaking of laws and sometimes even colluding with criminal masterminds that cannot be overlooked. Crime is a menace to society, especially since most crimes are committed in the hopes of getting some gain such as financial gain (Vera and Fabian 2016).

It should be noted that other people within the community are getting involved in crime because they get fast and easy money especially the young people who do not want to work hard because they know they can get good money elsewhere. This also makes it harder for the youth who grow up in these areas to not get themselves involved in crime.

When it comes to cybercrimes majority of the public are ignorant hence are conned. The government should advise the public society through adverts and campaigns that they should not be too trusting when asked about their confidential details online. They should also involve the private sectors.

The society should also be advised to seek Cyber Insurance Policies to protect their businesses from the consequences of cybercrimes. The use of technology is making it easier.

To reduce white collar crimes such as fraud, employers of the society are advised to conduct background checks on the candidates for employment seriously, they in fact should seek references and not fail to check properly their recent places of employment and check whether or not these people are trustworthy and truthful. (Green and Zurawski 2015).

Cybercrimes

Having audits for places that are suspicious such as spot audits can aid in reducing white collar crimes such as insider trading in the society. (Brayne 2017).

The government should provide better child protection service officers who investigate properly the residences where they place the children so that the children and teenagers do not end up being violated and abused which will make them feel like social misfits within the society and majority of them turn to crime (Wilson and McCulloch 2015).

When it comes to crime poverty is considered the number one cause that pushes people to crime. Creation of job security can be done by having more welfare groups that prevent employers from underpaying their employees and other cases such as mistreatment of workers (Lewis 2017). Welfare groups can take big companies to court because they have the funds to do so, in most cases an individual finds it hard to raise funds necessary to take big corporations to court. (Taylor, Fritsch and Liederbach 2014). 

The government should increase the penalty for offenses related to white collar crimes since most people who commit these crimes know that their penalties are usually low and lenient as  compared to other crimes. The government should also increase charges on those found possessing drugs especially those found with large quantities of drugs with the intention of distribution of the drugs (Zager 2018).

Programmes with violent scenes should not be aired so much on television since they incite violent behavior among the youth. The society should be advised to not watch such programmes in the presence of young ones (Wilson 2017).

Restorative justice should be employed when dealing with young people, when people come face to face with victims they harmed indirectly or directly and know that they are human too,they understand the magnitude of their actions. The offenders might feel guilty and turn to doing well in the society or even help other victims (Bennett and Haggerty 2014).  Diversion can be used when dealing with teens, having teens getting involved in other activities diverts their minds from crime.

References

Abu-Laban, Y., 2015. Gendering surveillance studies: The empirical and normative promise of feminist methodology. Surveillance & Society, 13(1), p.44.

Andrejevic, M. and Gates, K., 2014. Big data surveillance: Introduction. Surveillance & Society, 12(2), pp.185-196.

Bennett, C.J. and Haggerty, K. eds., 2014. Security games: Surveillance and control at mega-events. Routledge.

Brayne, S., 2017. Big data surveillance: The case of policing. American Sociological Review, 82(5), pp.977-1008.

Cook, P.J., 2015. Will the current crisis in police legitimacy increase crime? Research offers a way forward. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(3), pp.71-74.

Dunham, R.G. and Alpert, G.P., 2015. Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings. Waveland Press.

Fuchs, C. and Trottier, D., 2015. Towards a theoretical model of social media surveillance in contemporary society.

Green, N. and Zurawski, N., 2015. Surveillance and ethnography: Researching surveillance as everyday life. Surveillance & Society, 13(1), p.27.

Hendrix, J.A., Taniguchi, T.A., Strom, K.J., Barrick, K. and Johnson, N.J., 2018. The Eyes of Law Enforcement in the New Panopticon: Police-Community Racial Asymmetry and the Use of Surveillance Technology. Surveillance & Society, 16(1), pp.53-68.

Kovandzic, T.V., Schaffer, M.E., Vieraitis, L.M., Orrick, E.A. and Piquero, A.R., 2016. Police, crime and the problem of weak instruments: Revisiting the “more police, less crime” thesis. Journal of quantitative criminology, 32(1), pp.133-158.

Lewis, D.A., 2017. Fear of crime: Incivility and the production of a social problem. Routledge.

Matos, R., 2018. Gender and Crime in the Life Pathways of Young Women Offenders: Contrasting the Narratives of Girls and Professionals. In Female Crime and Delinquency in Portugal (pp. 163-182). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Payne, B.K., 2016. White-collar crime: The essentials. SAGE Publications.

Taylor, R.W., Fritsch, E.J. and Liederbach, J., 2014. Digital crime and digital terrorism. Prentice Hall Press.

Vera, Y. and Fabian, N., 2016. Crime prevention through environmental design.

Wilson, D. and McCulloch, J., 2015. Pre-crime: Pre-emption, precaution and the future. Routledge.

Wilson, D., 2017. Surveillance, Crime and Social Control. Routledge.

Zager, M.A., 2018. Gender and crime. In The generality of deviance (pp. 71-80). Routledge.