Who Should Prevent Crime at Places? The Advantages of Regulating Place Managers and Challenges to Police Services

This article questions the police capacity to apply all the evidence about the link between crimes and places. It reviews what we know about crime places in six propositions. Most policing strategies are unable to take advantage of all six propositions. Particular attention is drawn to place managers. Managers have the ability to address the factors that make places attractive for crime or resistant to crime. Evidence suggests a regulatory approach to place management is more productive than a hot spot enforcement approach. Most police agencies may not be willing or capable of applying a regulatory approach. Thus, it might be advisable to create a new non-police agency to prevent crime at places. Not only might this be more effective, it may also be less expensive and create fewer difficulties with communities.