Preventing Retail-Sector Crimes

The prevalence of crime in the retail sector is higher than for residents, and multiple victimization is common. Shops and stores have major exposure to external crime such as theft, burglary, robbery and threats, and violence to staff. Internal crime, such as fraud and theft by employees, is less of a problem. The location, siting, and design of a store significantly affects its crime risk, as does the type of neighborhood in which it is situated. Expenditure on security measures is high, but evaluated and published accounts of crime-prevention experiments are rare. Nonetheless, there are documented and cost-effective examples of prevention against all the major crime risks; the most useful approach to implementing these will require development and dissemination of crime audit methods and good practice in crime prevention. Cooperative methods of crime prevention in local areas, involving changes in security management within companies, and participation of public agencies, are likely also to be required.