Author: edited by Melissa J. Smith and Nick Tilley
ISBN No: 1-84392-089-1
Review date: 16/12/2025
No of pages: 218
Publisher: Willan Publishing
Year of publication:
Brief:
A ‘crime science’ approach to preventing and detecting crime is rapidly gaining wider recognition. But what is it? Martin Wright commends a book providing a welcome explanation. From our April print magazine.
In last month’s book reviews mention was made of the Jill Dando Institute (www.jdi.ucl.ac.uk) and the research its members had been conducting into reducing vehicle crime. While the circumstances leading to the establishment of the Jill Dando Institute are no doubt well known, the details of crime science may not be as well understood by security professionals. The book Crime Science will quickly address that issue and is an excellent introduction to the subject.
In essence Crime Science is a multi-disciplinary approach with the specific aim of better understanding crime. That understanding is expressly intended to reduce crime, either by preventing it or by assisting its rapid detection. This approach can trace its roots to a range of academic and practical disciplines, including: criminology; economics; psychology; and mathematics. As the book explains, "Crime Science uses scientific methods to test theories and examines not only what works, but where, how and when", an approach that no doubt will sound very familiar to security professionals and one that will endear it to practitioners and academics alike.
The book provides really useful case studies. Of particular interest to security professionals will be the chapter by Paul Ekblom on ‘future scanning’ – thinking about how innovations in science and technology may create future crime risks, while also generating opportunities for its reduction. This is a chapter well worth detailed consideration by security professionals: for how often have security systems and devices, manufactured and promoted with the best of intentions, subsequently been misused by criminals? If this one chapter teaches us anything, it is that an industry-wide approach is required to address these issues. What is surprising though is that, from the detail provided, it is not clear that the security industry is represented at these discussions, and if that is the case, then perhaps we should ask why.
Another case study of interest to security professionals is a review of situational crime prevention measures introduced at Glen Parva Prison; and at motorway service stations. Of particular notice in the latter is the impact of the spatio-temporal deployment of security staff (well, it is an academic subject when all said and done) following detailed crime pattern analysis which leads neatly onto another chapter looking at crime mapping.
The various chapters highlight the differing approaches of crime science and are both well structured and an interesting read. This is very timely publication and one I’m sure will quickly become required reading on relevant courses of academic study.
Martin Wright
