Category: Crime Prevention

With the emergence of modern technology, the issues of fraud can now be handled and managed reasonably. Fraud has continued to be the worst problem in the digital world, it certainly has affected a great number of individuals, organizations, institutions, and other aspects. So many measures have been used in managing and controlling fraud, but some of the measures have failed us and this results in a negative effect. In this paper, I am going introduce five latest technologies that can be able to tackle the problem of fraud, namely differential privacy, federated analysis, zero-knowledge proofs, homomorphic encryption, and secure multiparty computation. Although these techniques are still in their initial stage, I am going to explore and see how they can be applied in preventing fraud.

Literature Review

Looking at the fact that much research has been conducted to prevent and defend against fraud, this section will extensively review related works. The paper of E. I. Tarmazakov and D. S. Silnov, ‘Modern Approaches to Prevent Fraud in Mobile Communications Networks’, presents new ways to combat fraud which is based on mobile communication networks using aggregation of anti-fraud systems. The paper first illustrates the report of the Communication Fraud Control Association CFAC, which explains how a lot of telecommunications company loses billions of dollars yearly due to different types of fraud and methods. A method for mapping data in a communication network to detect phantom subscribers and a method of matching data to security policies were shown. To be able to detect fraudulent events, two methods are to be considered, firstly, monitoring the integrity of data flows will make it easy to detect fraud, and secondly, by analysis of subscriber behaviors, any suspicious activities or events should be detected, the fraud management system will consider all this options using aggregation of anti-fraud systems.

A. El Orche, M. Bahaj, and S. A. Alhayat in their ‘Ontology Based on Electronic Payment Fraud Prevention’ introduced an approach that applies ontology in protecting and preventing fraud. The advantage of this approach is that there are many important ways to improve electronic payment using rules. The paper starts with an explanation of the meaning of ontology, which is the organized and characterized set of ideas specifying an information field. Its objective is to describe the domain knowledge to be interpreted by both humans and devices. Ontology is concerned with how electronic payment fraud can be limited by sharing rules of fraud with applications used in financial companies and others. The features and importance of electronic payment fraud as well as a detailed explanation of fraud management that includes consequences of fraud, prevention of fraud, fraud risk indicator, and fraud prevention tools.

The paper of N. Balasupramanian, B. G. Ephrem, and I. S. Al-Barwani ‘User Pattern Based Online Fraud Detection and Prevention Using Big Data Analytics and Self Organizing Maps’ proposed a working model using two techniques that are used in fraud detection and prevention using big data analysis and machine learning using self-organizing mappings. A detailed classification of fraud both online/offline fraud was explained. The fraud detection methods are based on monitoring any suspicious pattern behavior, algorithms that are used in detecting frauds like artificial neural networks algorithms, machine learning algorithms, data mining algorithms, etc. Big data analysis is a method of analyzing data from a very big set to bring out the important data from the set and also involves many techniques like cluster analysis, data mining, genetic algorithms, principal components analysis, and self-organizing maps. The model is split into four components: data collection, preprocessing, training of the data, and mapping of data to verify accuracy. When the pattern matches, transactions will be approved or else not approved.

P. Sarda, M. J. M. Chowdhury, A. Colman, M. A. Kabir, and J. Han in ‘Blockchain for Fraud Prevention: A Work-History Fraud Prevention System’ proposed a new approach using blockchain concept in fraud prevention based on a work-history (job) fraud prevention system. Blockchain was used to store encrypted types of work history and verifications of the information in an organization. A prototype was developed for the verification process implemented using .Net and Ethereum public blockchain. The requirements analysis was done and it shows how important the prototype will enhance previous work- history verification processes. The implementation was based on smart contracts and employer clients. Two algorithms were used on how data is encrypted and shared work history using blockchain. The strengths of this method are that it reduces the cost of hiring third parties in verification processes and guarantees the integrity and confidentiality of data using blockchain. The limitations to the method are that it is only applicable on the Ethereum public blockchain, and also the keys for the encryption need to be secured because if lost there will be a problem.

An interesting paper of A. Tatiana explores the different classifications of fraud in general. The classification and qualification are based on public sector how fraud is managed and observed, which includes waste, abuse, kickback, accounting fraud, procurement fraud, asset misappropriation, and bribery and corruption. A fraud prevention framework was introduced to help government auditors which consists of budgetary operation/transactions surfing, extraction of suspicious operations, brainstorming to identify and detect fraud, and lastly assessing fraud.

Also, in ‘Fraud Analysis and Prevention in E-Commerce Transactions’, E. Caldeira, G. Brandao, and A. C. M. Pereira present a case study that is based on some techniques that can be combined to prevent fraud in e-commerce and credit card transactions. Four different computational intelligence techniques were used, including Bayesian networks, logistics regression, neural networks, and random forest. The idea of the case study presented was derived from all the four techniques. A dataset known as PaySeguro was used and the same methodology was adopted for all the techniques with different parameters for each technique. A comparative result for all the techniques based on the dataset used was illustrated.

The paper of M. A. R. Vol ‘& ACCOUNTING’ reviews five different computer technology applications that can be used in fraud detection and fraud prevention processes, which are spreadsheets, big data, forensic analytics, text analytics, and expert systems.

O. Avdeyuk, D. Kozlov, L. Druzhinina, and I. Tarasova proposed an approach for monitoring the service work of a POS network in real-time that can be used for analyzing, detecting, and preventing fraud in the system of electronic payments in real-time database using RethinkDB.

C. Guo, H. Wang, H. N. Dai, S. Cheng, and T. Wang put forward a fraud risk monitoring system for e-banking transactions using two models together, which are the model of score rules for online real-time transactions and offline historical transactions. A review of the fraud detection system was explained, including fraud risk detection and fraud risk monitoring evaluation. The system was designed in two models. The first is the RAIB model, which is classified into three parts activity of the information, identity shows the account status and behavior of the customer in fraud monitoring, and a parallel random forest algorithm was developed. In the offline transaction KSMG model, which collects the transaction log files from the e-banking system and stores them, a fraud algorithm was also used to show the process.

Modern Technology to Prevent Fraud

The World Economic Forum has pointed out the latest technologies that will be very effectively and efficiently used in combatting fraud by protecting individuals’ and organizations’ information, as well as preventing loss. These modern technologies include differential privacy, federated analysis, homomorphic encryption, zero-knowledge proofs, and secure multiparty computation.

1. Differential privacy. It is a technique that can be able to prevent fraud by protecting the privacy of confidential information of individuals or organizations from being accessed by fraudsters. It is a mathematical technique that uses noise or sound in the set of information inside the system to alarm any suspicious act by preventing data breaches that can lead to fraud.
2. Federated analysis. It is a technique used to put together the information collectively from other systems into a single system for easy access and analysis. The technique can make fraud monitoring and detection at ease by quickly analyzing information, which will lead to the pronouncement of fraud and increased security because important information can be exposed and detected.
3. Homomorphic encryption. It is a technique that encrypts information that can be analyzed and processed in a such that the information is concealed and protected during the process. This technique can strongly protect against fraud in transactions due to the fact the information will not be decrypted when processing. It is a promising technique that will prevent individuals and organizations from falling victim to fraud by controlling and protecting the information. For example, even if the fraudsters access the information, it cannot be of benefit because it is already encrypted.
4. Zero-knowledge proofs. It is a technique that can be applied to prevent fraud. It is by hiding the actual information that the individuals or organization doesn’t want to reveal, but also at the same time sharing some part of the information that is relevant.
5. Secure multiparty computation. It is a technique that permits individuals or organizations to be involved in an operation collectively, but each other protects its confidential information.

Importance of Modern Technologies in Preventing Fraud

The evolvement of different fraud techniques has brought about great concern in preventing them. The following are the importance of modern technologies in curbing the threat of fraud in an organization. Firstly, improvement in the prevention of fraudulent schemes, for example, the differential privacy technique, has an advantage that even when the fraudsters access the information, they cannot be able to use it because of the noise added to it. Another fact is that federated analysis allows information sharing to only intended parties and also prevents sensitive information from being exposed. This idea will definitely reduce fraud.

Advanced security by verification before sharing information with other parties, for example, zero-knowledge proofs, can check up information before revealing it; this will enhance the security of information and at the same time limit the effect of fraud because of verification. Lastly, these modern technologies assure maximum privacy by ensuring the restriction of sending confidential information.

Conclusion

In this paper, I have introduced new modern technologies that can be able to prevent fraudulent acts by preserving the privacy of the information. These modern technologies are differential privacy, federated analysis, homomorphic encryption, zero-knowledge proofs, and secure multiparty computation. Organizations, servicing companies, and institutions, most especially financial institutions like banks, can adopt the use of these modern technologies due to their great benefits in terms of data protection and preservation during the circulation of information. I have also observed some of the importance of these modern technologies that can improve privacy greatly and at the same prevent fraud.

References

1. A. El Orche, M. Bahaj, and S. A. Alhayat. ‘Ontology Based on Electronic Payment Fraud Prevention’. Colloq. Inf. Sci. Technol. Cist, vol. 2018-Octob, pp. 143–148, 2018.
2. A. Tatiana. ‘Fraud Prevention by Government Auditors’. Iber. Conf. Inf. Syst. Technol. Cist., 2017.
3. C. Guo, H. Wang, H. N. Dai, S. Cheng, and T. Wang. ‘Fraud Risk Monitoring System for E-Banking Transactions’. Proc. – IEEE 16th Int. Conf. Dependable, Auton. Secur. Comput. IEEE 16th Int. Conf. Pervasive Intell. Comput. IEEE 4th Int. Conf. Big Data Intell. Comput. IEEE 3, pp. 106–113, 2018.
4. E. Caldeira, G. Brandao, and A. C. M. Pereira. ‘Fraud Analysis and Prevention in E-Commerce Transactions’. Proc. – 9th Lat. Am. Web Congr. LA-WEB 2014, no. 2004, pp. 42–49, 2014.
5. E. I. Tarmazakov and D. S. Silnov. ‘Modern Approaches to Prevent Fraud in Mobile Communications Networks’. Proc. 2018 IEEE Conf. Russ. Young Res. Electr. Electron. Eng. ElConRus 2018, vol. 2018-Janua, pp. 379–381, 2018.
6. ‘Five New Technologies that Can Prevent Everything from Fraud to Future Financial Shocks’. Press releases| World Economic Forum’. [Online]. Available: https://www.weforum.org/press/2019/09/five-new-technologies-that-can-prevent-everything-from-fraud-to-future-financial-shocks/ [Accessed: 21-Dec-2019].
7. K. Modi and R. Dayma. ‘Real-Time Fraud Detection in Credit Card Transactions’. Data Sci. Warsaw, 2017.
8. M. A. R. Vol. ‘& ACCOUNTING’. Vol. 16, no. 2, 2017.
9. N. Balasupramanian, B. G. Ephrem, and I. S. Al-Barwani. ‘User Pattern Based Online Fraud Detection and Prevention Using Big Data Analytics and Self Organizing Maps’. Int. Conf. Intell. Comput. Instrum. Control Technol. ICICICT 2017, vol. 2018-Janua, pp. 691–694, 2018.
10. O. Avdeyuk, D. Kozlov, L. Druzhinina, and I. Tarasova. ‘Fraud Prevention in the System of Electronic Payments on the Basis of POS-Networks Security Monitoring’. Proc. 2017 10th Int. Conf. Manag. Large-Scale Syst. Dev. MLSD 2017, 2017.
11. P. Sarda, M. J. M. Chowdhury, A. Colman, M. A. Kabir, and J. Han. ‘Blockchain for Fraud Prevention: A Work-History Fraud Prevention System’. Proc. – 17th IEEE Int. Conf. Trust. Secur. Priv. Comput. Commun. 12th IEEE Int. Conf. Big Data Sci. Eng. Trust. 2018, pp. 1858–1863, 2018.
12. UK Finance. ‘Fraud The Facts 2019’. Pp. 1–53, 2019.

The mind of a criminal is a very interesting one. Many may wonder what motivates a criminal to commit the acts they do. It has always been debated whether crime originates from the individual or the environment. In this paper, I am going to discuss the environmental factors that motivate crime. This paper will be split into first discussing the differences between nature versus environment, looking into the Sociological theory, specifically the General Strain Theory, and addressing any factors that the general strain theory does not account for.

Different circumstances create a criminal. Some believe that it is the individual’s choice to commit a crime and they are well aware of the choices they are making. Others believe that it is the biological makeup of one, that forces them into crime. I strongly believe that some criminals do not have a choice in what they are doing and that different situations create such a force in their lives that they are forced to step into the crime world. The Sociological Theory of Crime specifically looks at the influence social factors have on a criminal’s behaviour. This theory puts ones living situation into perspective to determine what was the primary factor that leads someone into the life of crime. I will specifically discuss why someone commits a crime through the General Strain Theory. This theory essentially states that different strains humans feel, compel them into committing crimes in hopes of reducing or escaping the strain.

Many theorists have their own perception of The Strain Theory. In particular, Robert Agnew, in particular, developed a theory that was more progressive and broadens the definition of strain. This theory particularly outlines three areas that may cause strain; failure to reach a goal, removal of a positive stimuli, and a presence of a negative stimuli.

Crimes in the workplace are very common. It ranges from petty theft to large scale fraud and blue-collar to white-collar, it is inevitable in a business. However, the question goes back to why employees feel the need to commit a crime. A lot of this has to do with employees trying to reach a goal that seems unattainable or failing to get a promotion. In a study conducted to determine the correlation between goal difficulty and promotion to employee fraud. It was found that employees feel compelled to commit theft and crime to meet a goal imposed by their supervisors in order to obtain a promotion (Clor-Proell, Kaplan, Proell, 2015). The strain in this situation is a negative stimulus provoked by employers that make employees feel pressured into reaching unattainable goals that they feel can only be done through cutting corners. A similar situation is applied when employees do not receive the promotion they worked towards. Fraud in a workplace composes of opportunity and incentive. When the opportunity of a promotion arises and an employee does not receive it, they tend to feel a burden of trying again, even if it means committing delinquency. A lot of this has to do with experiencing the feeling of not attaining the goal an employee worked hard towards, so to avoid the emotion, committing criminal acts such as fraud, makes it easy to abstain from failure again. Such situations evoke strain on an individual, that like Agnew’s theory states, one feels the need to escape the pressure (Agnew, 2001). Other examples include the strain of social class. Those who are on the lower end of the spectrum feel an immense amount of strain due to not moving up the social ladder. This sense of failure further increases as individuals around lower-class individuals continue to succeed and attain the goals that the lower class cannot achieve (Cheteni et al., 2018). Low-income individuals will commit crimes to improve their social class. The more inequality one suffers the higher the strain, the greater the probability of committing a crime.

A lot of students also commit delinquent activities. School plays a very prominent role in generating stress. A stressful environment harbours criminal behaviour as it acts as an escape from the strain students feel. The majority of the crimes student commit range from shoplifting to illegal drug usage. One of the components of the General Strain Theory explains that the presence of a negative stimuli, stress at school, results in criminal behaviour. A study in China conducted a test to understand the relationship between the stress at school and how it results in deviance in students. Through experimentation, it was found the likelihood of a student committing a crime was higher in a school with high-stress levels (Zhang, Liu, Wang, Zou, 2018). The study also found that schools with a higher population also reported a greater probability of students committing a crime (Zhang, Liu, Wang, Zou, 2018). When a group has more people, it is harder to regulate. The group becomes more diverse which means more strained individuals are in the mix and that strain transfers onto other adolescents. This partially touches on the Social Learning Theory, which is about learning and “copying” behaviour from groups one may be associated to, with school being a cultural association. The study found that “Schools hosting strained student populations also serve as illegitimate opportunity providers” (Zhang, Liu, Wang, Zou, 2018). The illegitimate opportunities were defined as the chances a student has to learn criminal behaviour and the chances to embrace the role of a criminal. Once again, referring back to the Strain Theory, the presence of a strained environment increased the chance of criminal behaviour. Another situation, with crime present, is in poverty. Crimes under homelessness were reported to be more property related than violence. The root cause of these property crimes is from the strain homeless individuals feel from not meeting their basic survival needs, such as shelter and food. This incredibly heavy burden creates a huge strain on homeless people which motivates them into committing crimes to make ends meet. In a study conducted by the Institute for the Prevention of Crime it was found that the longer someone experiences poverty, the greater the exposure they have to crime (Prevention of crime, n.d). Fundamentally, this means that a person that is homeless for six years has a higher chance of committing a crime compared to someone homeless for three years because they carry more strain.

Many different scenarios further prove that due to the environment, criminals commit crime. Another situation is the relationship between childhood abuse and crime. Childhood abuse creates a lot of trauma towards an individual. Such trauma is found to have lasting consequences that have factors leading to crime. Agnew argues strains that are unjust and high in scale are some of the characteristics that most likely result in a crime (Agnew, 2001). Abuse is something that will always be unjust, and it is something that causes a great amount of strain. With that being said, abuse victims are highly susceptible to crime. Many criminal justice studies have also found that majority of criminals have a history of abuse (Watts, McNulty, 2013). Furthermore, abuse develops many emotions such as depression, anxiety, anger, which if not dealt with correctly leads to crime. Other environmental theories such as the Control Theory tie into this as individuals with higher amounts of control can handle strain a lot better. However, for those who give in to the strain respond to it through crime. Through studies conducted it was found individuals who suffer depression due to childhood trauma, have a high rate in offending (Watts, McNulty, 2013). The data also supports the fact that victims of early trauma will surrender to criminal behaviour later on (Watts, McNulty, 2013). Unfortunately, this means that those who have been exposed to childhood trauma such as abuse, suffer from a significant amount of strain. This strain then creates negative emotions that play a role in motivating criminal activities. The presence of the negative stimuli is the greatest motivator that pushes one towards crime, in hopes of escaping that strain.

While the General Strain Theory makes a very convincing argument to answer the question of what motivates crime, it does have its limitations. Biological theorists would argue that the General Strain Theory does not account for individuals that suffer biological harm. Some examples of biological harm would include substance abuse, a poor diet, or a head injury. For situations where someone suffers an injury that alters the way they think, unfortunately, the Strain Theory does not have enough evidence to back up why an injury may lead someone into the life of crime. However, a lot of mental illnesses come from abuse, neglect, death, etc. and the Biological Theory does not take into consideration that social factors may have to do with some illnesses. All these roots are different types of strain that an individual suffers from and the General Strain Theory does take all of that into account when determining what motivates a criminal. Substance abuse is also something a biological theorist would say that the Strain Theory does not account for, however, studies have shown that substance abuse comes from individuals feeling strain. Going back to the homeless situation, the Institute for the Prevention of Crime found that the strain of social class leads people into substance abuse (Prevention of crime, n.d).

Overall, it is quite evident that the environment is what motivates people into crime. It is what pushes them into such behaviour, the General Strain Theory by Robert Agnew helps take a deeper understanding to determine why people feel compelled to commit crimes. It was found that various types of strain such as failing to achieve a goal, the remove of a positive incentive, and the presence of an unfavourable stimuli resulted in crime. This was seen in various situations such as workplace promotions, social structure, and childhood trauma. Ultimately, to answer the question of why a criminal commits a crime is it because of the environment they are in.

The definition of crime is: an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law. Crime has been increasing over the years and although crime occurs for many reasons, there exists ways it can be prevented. But what are these random factors that influence criminal conduct?

The real root of causes of crime and reasons people commit crimes is usually because of their background for example if they grew up in poverty, in a gang, have a mental illness, or have been through a traumatic event in their lives. ‘Real root cause of criminal behavior’ is ‘the absence of marriage and the failure to form and maintain intact families” (Fagan). Unstable families create stress and the absence of affection. Bad influences then come from this such as abuse. “They become hostile, anxious, and hyperactive; they then become difficult to manage and is frequently labelled as a ‘behavior problem’ (Fagan). Poverty can also have an effect on unstable families because finances can cause bullying, parents fighting, and much more. Sometimes this can lead to joining a gang since they then go looking for attention or money. Gangs are bad influences because they force you to steal, do drugs, kill, rape, and to leave your families completely and become unemployed. This is the start of a criminal. On the other hand, mental illnesses if not treated correctly, have a big impact on criminal behavior as well because they are not all there in the head and will do things that are not right.

These crime factors have an effect on everyone including victims, society, family, and even themselves. The physical effects such as injury through a violent crime can cause broken bones, hospitalization, which can then lead to getting sued from the victim. Also direct costs of inconvenience like time off of work. Not only that, but it can cause psychological effects such as anger, depression, fear, and feelings of anxiety. “The effects of a crime can be felt not only by the individual who the criminal justice system treats as the direct victim, but also by their family and those close to them; the knowledge of victimization and its shock can spread out through a neighborhood creating a ripple effect” (University of Sheffield). That gives a bad reputation of the person committing the crime and their family. In the Table of Percentage of victims that received victim support of those that indicated that they needed it, 1996-2005 International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) and 2005 European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS), showed as many as 4 out of 5 victims in participating countries do not receive the support they feel they need.

Some ways of getting to know a criminal, is studying their behavior and knowing the social, psychological and criminological science behind it. “Looking into the background of just about any criminal you will find at least one, and in many cases, all of the following causal factors: acute parental inadequacy; childhood trauma; interrupted schooling; functional illiteracy; intermittent employment; substance abuse and/or addiction and mental illness” (Dominion Post). Criminals are usually isolated and/or feel isolated and can’t control their exercises; ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which leads to bad decisions. Some have a helpless cork tossed about on a wild torrent of a malign environment. Others act violent or aggressive and have issues such as anger. Unfortunately, the number of people incarcerated in our jails, will simply not do with just placing more criminals in prison. But that doesn’t mean those who choose evil should be allowed to escape the consequences. And the sad part is that if people can do good on their own, they can do evil on their own, and that’s the path they choose.

Crime cannot be stopped completely, but there are ways to prevent it from happening at home. Some crime prevention tips and ideas that can be exercised for safety throughout the community are quite simple. Neighborhood watch is one of the oldest and best-known concepts for crime prevention in the US. This can be an option for neighborhood protection. Also, having a light or radio on when leaving the house, along with locking the doors, is an easy and safe step to prevent someone from breaking in. Paying attention to surroundings and recognizing what goes on in the community, such as drugs, is so important. Sgt. Greg Allen from the Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force talked about how to recognize drug houses. He said “drug houses usually attract unusual people traffic. The smell of ether and ammonia also may be indications of illegal substances being present – or manufactured inside a home.” Reporting a suspicious “crime” promotes a healthy and safer community. These tips offer an enriched community which is actually vital because it would build stronger communities and prevent crime all over.

Looking at the bigger picture, this is one way of preventing crime however, crime needs even bigger ways to be prevented. Creating programs that focus on hotspots where more violence is present could reduce crime (bigger cities and males between the age of 10-29). Everyone would need to get involved to come up with a treatment plan though. The real focus needs to be preventing criminal behavior and the conditions that draw people out to be violent. Getting people actively involved in skills such as education can demonstrate positive results. “While justice and police have an important role to play, repression only is counter-productive if not combined with development interventions that look at the drivers of violence, and tackle things like skills and education of youth, socio-economic inequalities, and access to communal services” (Larsson). Getting people to get involved in activities that make them happy, maybe meeting a new friend, or learning new things shows a significance in behavior. Prisons are already over-populated, crime is high, and violence is a culture, so instead of having this strict system that treats people in conduct and order, it’s time to put people on the road to happiness. By doing this, mental institutions can simply take criminals and the people struggling in life and take these individuals on supervised activities frequently, such as horseback riding in the mountains, etc. Just to get them out in the open air and let them have a little freedom because believe it or not, the reason for crime comes from unhappiness. Happiness is key to preventing crime. Sometimes all someone needs is just a friend.

What preventing crime will do is of course cause the entire law enforcement apparatus to become obsolete and eventually the skills to enforce the law would be gone. But that’s okay because there wouldn’t be any crime. Millions of people would lose their job if all crime stopped. Police officers, judges, would all become out of work. Without crime, there would have to be new laws set in place.

Identify approaches used by public services to reduce crime, disorder, and antisocial behaviour:

NIM: The National Intelligence Model is a thoroughly structured Policing system/ reference approach. NIM features aspects of the following areas –

• Devised development – through collection and subsequent analysis of corresponding data, succeeding initiatives relating to reduction in crime can be drafted, altered, practiced, and advanced.
• Acknowledgement & action of potential risks – Addressing connected risks, opens opportunities for further measures; to recognise and expect these dangers prior to the undertaking of pre-planned methods increases the possibility of reducing/ completely preventing such consequences prevailing.
• Appropriation of sufficient resources – Where necessary, arrangements will need to be made in regard to supply, distribution, and assemblage of indispensable resources (these including monetary determinations, scientific research, employees, establishments, technology, etc.).

CSP’s: Community Safety Partnerships are groups formed collectively of local Public Service representatives (sourced from the Health Service, Fire Brigade, Police, etc.) collaborative function allows for effective indication of potential issues and thus, productive practices can be put in place.

PCSO’s: Through liaison approaches, Police Community Support Officers are responsible for alleviation of smaller conflictions. These Officers may pose to be the human embodiment of a deterrent; their presence and social abilities are implemented in a number of roles within the Police: For instance, front-line assistance, residential questioning, overseeing of crime scenes, and to communicate with members of the general public with the intent of reducing crime.

Neighbourhood Watch: Members of the Neighbourhood Watch merge to preserve the safety and welfare of their respective communities. As a voluntary organisation with members from all areas nationally, they have a total of over 2.3 million serving members.

CCTV (Close Circuit Television.): As a deterrent, surveillance cameras have been statistically proven to aid in the reduction of certain types of crime, in alliance with further preventative measures such as flood lighting. Security cameras have been seen to successfully avert vehicle theft/ damage. However, when observing similar data in respect to violent crime, there is little to no-difference in crime rates contributed towards by this technology.

NACRO: Similar to the neighbourhood watch, Nacro is a large charitable organisation, fuelled in the pursuit of supporting locals (of all backgrounds and needs) within corresponding communities. Approaches of communication, legal advice, and dedicated efforts made toward youth interrelations – crime is subsequently reduced through effective support and lawful intervention.

‘A new approach to fighting crime’ (Home Office): This modernised method of crime prevention/ intervention, is devised with the function of addressing serious and organised crime at a national level: with a delegated department for the upmost severity, it is believed greater focus and time can be invested in other forms of crime reduction strategies – including Community Safety Partnerships. To take place, a Police reform – revolved around objectives – is planned to instil greater levels of accountability and fulfilment of coinciding expectations. Police and Crime Commissioners are to be selected through election – their roles inclusive of budgeting, district representation, and management structure. Data collected will be made openly accessible to the public also, this is considered to aid in processes of community cooperation.Analyse how the strategies used by local community public services work to reduce crime disorder and antisocial behaviour. (M3):

Installation of security cameras holds many benefits to those utilising the equipment, not only present as a deterrent, CCTV footage may be used as evidence toward the investigation of a crime committed onsite or elsewhere, for example – where a missing person case is under analysis, local businesses may be asked to present corresponding security footage for the purpose of identification. Misconduct within one’s own establishment may also be acknowledged/ deterred in the presence of a camera. To regulate efficiency and security, this equipment is commonly implemented when granting access to a building – where a supermarket continually has staff members leaving & entering (during not open to the public hours) delegated persons will be responsible in admissions. Instead of having to repeatedly go to the door and physically check, a camera can be used here in coalition with a hand-held device to speed up the process yet preserve the security of the building. As for personal use, surveillance technology set to the exterior of the house and overlooking a drive way is likely to discourage any form of vandalism/ theft, and where such misdemeanours do occur, evidence collected via security footage can be used for the Police report and insurance claim.

A new approach to fighting crime: As the prevalence of serious organised crime continues to worsen, and the leaders of these feats avoid detection, this modernised initiative aims to strike the route cause and supress the outgoing consequences of subordinate associates. Taking county lines for example, individuals coordinating distribution, supply and hire workers that bypass their personal possibility of arrest through sending forth ‘risky’ manoeuvres over to young, impressionable or vulnerable people – run corrupt enterprises with no interlinked regard for the welfare of their ‘employees’ (who are likely under the age of eighteen.). The purpose of this initiative is to direct policing resources to the route of the problem, dealers who otherwise escape detection, rather than the continued expenses needed to counter subsidiary assistants obliged in keeping their employers anonymous to relevant services. Obviously, given the sizable tasks put forward to this department – funds required can be extensive, yet attending to this area of criminal conduct is to significantly hinder these dominating infractions currently debilitating Policing institutes.

In collaboration with the Police and other relevant services, members of the neighbourhood watch are accountable for the proper and thorough reporting of crime/ suspicious behaviour as well as the promoting of stronger and safer communities. The generalised motive for this group is to increase awareness and intervene before criminal behaviour occurs. For those particularly vulnerable, members of the watch will task themselves in ensuring that these people are safe and sufficiently supported. Where crime does ensue – these are recorded, and over extended periods a broadened theme can be assessed and tackled by the Police. Dependent on ones involvement (which is entirely voluntary) the responsibilities of these contributors vary.

Evaluate a local public service initiative designed to address crime and its impact on the community. (D2):

A large portion of the information and statistics discussed within this segment are sourced from the document referenced underneath.

To begin, a generalised demographic of crime prevalent in North Yorkshire, the strategies in place to counter these issues, as well as the anticipated outcomes of these approaches including potential obstacles that may surface. Due to the area’s lower population concentration, it should be expected that crime is of a lower occurrence, and that is true – North Yorkshire is considered to be the safest place to live. However, with that said there has been an increase in the quantity of crime taking place; that being a thirteen percent growth (data sourced from the Office of National Statistics “Crime in England and Wales (2018)”.). From the same source, it is easy to grasp a visual understanding of problem themes, public order offences, robbery, sexual offences, and possession of weapons are a few categories to see a vast increase in the number of accounts recorded.

As I began this brief overview on the basis of numerical data – I will conclude in the same manner. (Source for all numbers featured will again be present underneath.).

Recorded anti-social behaviour crimes have decreased rather significantly over the last two years, in February of 2018 there were 2008 incidents compared with the year 2020 (February) in which 1409 were recorded. When looking to violent offences, there seems to have been a dramatic increase (though I am only including the numbers documented in singular months – preceding dates also follow the same theme unless stated otherwise.) violent crime during February of 2018: 945 | February 2020: 1466. Public order offences have too seen an escalation in the amount reported: February 2018: 130 | February: 201. Those were the numbers for specific crime, I will now showcase the overall totals of recorded crime in the North Yorkshire area: The total for February 2018 was 5008 and for February 2020 the total was 5033.

Overall, I would say that the crime initiatives being introduced are a positive addition to all Public Services, as society develops and changes new obstacles are continually arising and these need to be addressed for lawful regulation to persist. Whilst the statistics featured above, excluding those relating to anti-social crimes, have seen little change or worsened in the duration of 2 years. Processes such as those mentioned within the North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership strategic plan, will take time to pose effective. Modernised input does not have an instantaneous result without true priority and corresponding funds.