Crime prevention entails the plans by particular concerned individuals aimed at reduction and deterring of criminals and crimes. It typically forms an integral part of the plans and priorities of any particular crime prevention officer. There are a variety of crimes committed by different criminals which must all be reduced and prevented from occurring. However, the main focus of this paper will be examined and set out plans aimed at reducing crime on public transport. In matters relating to such crimes, it is always of significance to understand what crime on public transport really entails.
When setting up a plan to reduce crimes on public transport, it is vital to understand various aspects. For instance, first what public transport entails. Public transport can be defined as a fundamental element whose main role revolves around the reduction of certain social exclusion by offering employment, health, leisure and even work (Sohn, 2016 p.90). Further, public transport is considered as hire system whose key function is to provide mass transportation to public citizens. According to a recent survey which was conducted in the last two years, it was found out that there are certainly two primary factors which have widely prevented the use of public transport. Such factors include the personal security and fear of crime at various stations and bus stops in some of the towns.
The other essential factor which is to be considered when making plans for reducing various crimes on public transport is the nature and extent of crimes on public transport. There are a variety of crimes being committed on public transport. Such crimes include theft, robbery, assault and anti-social behavior which typically forms the category of crimes committed against the passengers (Ariel and Partridge, 2017 p.820). There is also another category of crimes which those relating to crimes against the employees and they include, graffiti and vandalism. Lastly, there is the category of crimes called the line of routes crimes which are typically those crimes committed along a particular route.
The plans aimed at preventing and hence reducing crimes on public transport will typically entail a number of approaches. Some of the techniques of preventing such crimes will include;
There are a variety of strategies which can be applied to help in preventing crimes on the public transport. The recommended strategies are as indicated below in the paper.
The situational prevention method will entail the application of a variety of techniques aimed at reducing the different crimes on public transport. Such techniques will include, organizational techniques which entail the adoption of certain policies by the institution aimed at regulating banning of consumption of various drugs in school (Ariel and Partridge, 2017 p.820). Such a method will typically reduce a variety of aggressive behavior. The other technique will entail the installation of more video surveillance along the routes used by most of the students. There are numerous roles of video surveillance which will be used to help in preventing and hence reducing crimes on public transport. For example, it will alert the concerned authorities about any particular criminal activity taking place along any of the routes. The authorities will, therefore, react quickly to a crime on public transport (Natarajan, 2016 p.6). The other fundamental function of video surveillance is that it will be used as a mechanism aimed at discouraging any particular potential offender from carrying out a crime.
Another technique under the situational method includes conducting numerous public awareness to both the public and students by educating them on ways to protect themselves when encountered with such criminal acts (Reynald, 2015 p.85). Some of the ways that could be adopted is keeping a variety of valuable possessions from the criminals to reduce theft cases along the routes. Lastly, under the situational method, the staff members of the institution will undergo a training to enable them to have the right skills to intervene in any particular crime situation before it gets worse. A key intervention technique which could be used is the alternative conflict management and this can be enforced by certain specialized mediators (Gottheil and Gabor, 2017 p.65).
The social prevention method will mainly entail the use of campaigns to create awareness to the public and student of the institution about the various crimes on public transport. Most of such educational campaigns to raise awareness will typically entail the provision of a variety of information aimed at the modification of the behavior of different criminal offenders (Schiller and Kenworthy, 2017 p.100). It will also aim at reducing certain uncivil behavior along the routes by encouraging the application of safety rules.
Further, the campaigns to raise awareness on the crime on the public transport will also aid in preventing and reducing terrorism since most of the transport users especially the students will become aware of different aspects and concepts of terrorism. Apart from the above mentioned roles of public campaigns, the other fundamental role of such campaigns entails preventing of certain acts of incivilities such as throwing litter, anti-social behavior and being annoying among others (Eck and Weisburd, 2015 p.14). Lastly, the campaigns will generally encourage the students and also the public to report some of the cases of crimes on public transport along the routes to the relevant authorities and this will be done over the telephone.
Often the crimes on public transport occur in different routes of a particular journey and also at different times, there has therefore been a rising concern for the implications in relation to the prevention of such crimes. It is vital to form partnerships aimed at implementing some of the prevention plans (Weisburd, 2018 p.230). Some of the partnerships could that among the transport companies, local and state groups aimed at eradicating cases of insecurity on public transport. Such a strategy is often referred to as the local security contracts. The local security contract will typically unite all the stakeholders including the students and staff members of the institution. Some of the fundamental local security contracts entail a decision on the target areas, technique of plan of action, carrying out of a local safety diagnosis and the review of the matter of concern which is security along the routes.
The prevention plan will entail the identification of various guardians, targets and victims of crimes on public transport. Based on a survey which was conducted recently, it was found out that there are particularly a variety of victims of crime on public transport (Cozens and Love, 2015 p.400). Such victims include the passengers who could also be the students and also the staff. Apart from the identification of the particular victims, the various risks to crime will also be identified. Some of such risks relate to the infrastructure of the transport system such as graffiti of vehicles, criminal damage of vehicles and the damage to certain fixed lines which could create certain obstacles on the routes.
According to Welsh, Farrington, and Taheri (2015 p.120), the other step in the prevention plan will entail the identification of the key handlers and offenders of crimes on public transport. The critical characteristics of the offenders will be identified whether they are really part of different crimes being committed along the routes in public transport. To know the various characteristics of the key offenders, a study will be conducted with the aim of understanding the travel behavior of the identified offenders along the different routes used by most of the students of the institution.
Further, the prevention plan will entail the examination of the time and places where most of the crimes on public transport occur (Collins, Ricks and Van Meter, 2015 p.9). In the event of assessing the specific places where the crimes are likely to take place, it will be vital to classify the different settings into a variety of public transport components. Such components will entail, route, waiting and walking settings among others. According to a recent study, it was found out that crimes on public transport primarily occur in areas such as hubs, transport stations, and stops and hence it will be part of the prevention plan aimed at reducing crime on the public transport.
Additionally, there will also be the identification of the various crime generators and the crime attractors. The crime attractors can be considered as the specific place in which the criminal offenders often visit and this has been attributed to their knowledge of the place and also available opportunities related to crime on public transport (Natarajan et al.2015 p.29). The crime generators, on the other hand, entail the areas whose primary aim is to attract a variety of individuals with intentions to commit various criminal offenses. With the identification of such areas, it will be easy to put into place certain measures aimed at reducing crimes on public transport.
Conclusion
In summary, the plans to prevent and hence reduce crimes on public transport cannot be done in isolation. The various stakeholders must be taken into consideration such as the transport users, local government, transport operators and the community stakeholders. The above mentioned crime prevention plan entails a number of procedures. Some of the procedures include identification of the key handlers and offenders of crimes on the public transport, examination of the time and places where most of the crimes on public transport occurs and identification of various guardians, targets and victims of crimes on the public transport. Additionally, there are strategies which will be applied in the plan such as situational prevention method, the formation of partnerships with various groups and social prevention method
References
Ariel, B. and Partridge, H., 2017. Predictable policing: Measuring the crime control benefits of hotspots policing at bus stops. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 33(4), pp.809-833.
Collins, P.A., Ricks, T.A. and Van Meter, C.W., 2015. Principles of security and crime prevention. Routledge.
Cozens, P. and Love, T., 2015. A review and current status of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Journal of Planning Literature, 30(4), pp.393-412.
Eck, J. and Weisburd, D.L., 2015. Crime places in crime theory.
Gottheil, E. and Gabor, T., 2017. Offender characteristics and spatial mobility: An empirical study and some policy implications. In Applications of Geographical Offender Profiling(pp. 55-70). Routledge.
Natarajan, M., 2016. Rapid assessment of “eve teasing”(sexual harassment) of young women during the commute to college In India. Crime Science, 5(1), p.6.
Natarajan, M., Clarke, R., Carcach, C., Ponce, C., de Sanfeliú, M.B., Polanco, D.E., Chávez, M. and Shi, M., 2015. Situational prevention and public transport crime in El Salvador. Crime Science, 4(1), p.29.
Reynald, D.M., 2015. Environmental design and crime events. Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 31(1), pp.71-89.
Schiller, P.L. and Kenworthy, J.R., 2017. An introduction to sustainable transportation: Policy, planning, and implementation. Routledge.
Sohn, D.W., 2016. Residential crimes and neighborhood built environment: Assessing the effectiveness of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). Cities, 52, pp.86-93.
Weisburd, D., 2018. From criminals to criminal contexts: Reorienting crime prevention research and policy. In Crime and social organization (pp. 215-234). Routledge.
Welsh, B.C., Farrington, D.P. and Taheri, S.A., 2015. Effectiveness and social costs of public area surveillance for crime prevention. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 11, pp.111-130.
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