Changing crime and changing responses

Abstract

This paper outlines the changing crime rates in Australia over the past decade. Crime is reduced by reducing the supply of motivated offenders and by making crime harder to commit. A crime prevention strategic framework involves policies to prevent crime, improve safety and reduce disorder while recognising that there is no one single, definable cause of crime. Different strategies involve identifying the conjunction of criminal opportunities, and testing policies about designing for safety, community policing, protective behaviours and so on, within a context of situational crime prevention and a legal framework. This paper presents some of the Australian Institute of Criminology data on crime against small business and it also focuses on some of the strategies of crime reduction through product design.