The influence of physical property and nearby characteristics on burglary risk

Lorena Montoya, Yfke Ongena, Marianne Junger

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    This paper examines how property (i. e. the house and ist ground) and nearby (i. e. the immediate surroundings of a property) characteristics influence residential burglary. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles of territoriality, surveillance, access control, target hardening, image- maintenance and activity support provide the underpinning theory. The reasoning is that the physical environment can be changed to impact criminal behavior resulting in a reduction in crime and fear of crime.
    Data were collected by observing 851 houses, of which approximately half had been burgled in 2008 according to police records.

    Property characteristics appear to be better at predicting burglary than nearby characteristics. They also show that the hierarchical order of the principles varies for property and nearby characteristics. A multilevel regression was elaborated to account for the variance between neighbourhoods. A number of property and nearby design recommendations is made based on the significant variables.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)41-57
    JournalPolizei & Wissenschaft. Unabhängige interdisziplinäre Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Polizei
    Volume3
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

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