Criminal Justice
Crime Analysis and Strategies for the City of Amber
Executive Summary
The City of Amber is experiencing an alarming rate of burglary incidents for the past two weeks. In this regard, the Amber Police Department will be taking steps in addressing the alarming rate of burglary incidents in the city through a systematic approach in terms of allocating manpower, heightened surveillance, and vigilant patrol of the surrounding communities with the help of the civilian personnel. In order to establish peace and order back to the community through a preventive and pro-active solution, it is important to consider the crime data and the factors that contributed to the prevalence of crime. This involves analyzing the characteristics of the communities within the city by determining the demographic composition, population, socio-economic status of the residents, and other determinants that could point the cause of the crimes.
The City of Amber is composed of ten communities and urban commercial areas in which three are highly populated with immigrants; another community is a dense area with a few illegal settlers and relocated families from a slum area in a neighboring city. On the other hand, the majority of other communities are considered first class urban communities with villages and exclusive subdivisions within the larger part of the residential areas. The total population of the city is 230,000 in which 30,000 are immigrants from various countries, while 50,000 belong in the poor communities; the rest of the population belongs in the upper and middle class communities. In terms of profession, 40% of the working class works in the industrial zone factories while the 35% are identified as white-collar workers. The remaining work force is laborers and professionals working in the healthcare and academic sectors respectively. In terms of age distribution and education, only 45% of the population was able to finish college education while 35% are high school and elementary graduates, the rest of the population are either school dropouts or was not about to continue their education for some reason. In terms of age, 25% of the population belongs in the age range between 0 and 17, while 55% belongs in the age range of 18 to 60 years, and 20% are in the age range of 61 and above.
The Current Situation
Currently, the Amber Police is on a red alert regarding several incidents of burglary in the upper and middle class communities. The reports show that an average of three to four households are being victimized simultaneously, and the activities happened at five times in the past two weeks. In addition, the burglary incidents were reported to have occurred between 8PM to 4AM with three incidents that occurred on broad daylight. As a matter of the valuables being taken by the burglars, the complainants reported that the usual objects being taken are cash, jewelries, electronic gadgets, and other small valuables. In addition, the reports also show that the incidents happen when the homeowners are not at home. Out of the incidents that was reported to the police station, only three instances that a witness came forth to account what they have witnessed during the incidents. In addition to the facts gathered by the police intelligence unit, the point of entry of the burglars are mostly the backdoor area where the victims recalled having their backdoor windows sliced open enough that an arm of a full grown man can slip through and reach for the door locks or window locks.
Crime Analysis
As to speculate why there was a sudden increase on the incidents of burglary in the city, there are several factors that can be considered as the cause of the crimes. First, the surge of burglary incidents occurred only within the past two weeks, but prior to that there had been several developments in the city that had a significant implication towards the economic status of the city residents. Several manufacturing companies in the economic zone within the city moved out to another location causing a massive layoff on the blue-collar working class. It can be recalled that 40% of the working population in the city are working in the economic zone where the closed factories are located. In addition, there is a significant number of the city’s population that belongs in the poor families. Given those circumstances, it can be speculated that the cause of the sudden surge of burglary incidents in the city is economic related.
Proposed Solution
The current situation calls for a systematic approach in which heightened surveillance is necessary. In terms of security augmentation, the 200 police personnel will be put into high alert and will be dispatched in key areas where burglary often occurs. The police security will be posted in hot spots and will do an area scan by patrolling the area every 30 minutes. This will improve the detection rate because the police personnel would be able to respond to the incidents more quickly and in great numbers. Main entry points such as the roads going in and out of the hot spot communities will be augmented with police personnel at a minimum of five from 7PM to 9PM. Apart from security the entry points, the police security will be doubled after 9PM since most of the incidents occur during late hours at night, which a patrol vehicle will make rounds within the affected communities. Weekdays are considered hot time where many of the responses for burglary in progress were least successful.
For incidents where burglary was successful, there should be a separate detection operations to be carried out to survey the potential spots where the stolen properties can be disposed. This will allow the police to identify potential suspects and determine the involvement of shop owners in acquiring the stolen properties (Coupe and Griffiths, 1996). A review of past cases will be also undertaken to identify potential suspects who had previous similar cases and revisit witnesses to determine possible pattern of likeness on the description of the burglars based on the different witness accounts. It is also necessary to determine if there are similarities on the manner of intrusion such as the way the glass on the door or windows were opened or if there are particular tools used in breaking and entering. Determining the tools will enable the police to trace the source and see if there were a significant surge or purchases of the identified tools in hardware and equipment stores. From another angle, seeking cooperation with the local officials to implement a temporary curfew can also do the preventive approach. In addition, a city-wide campaign will be conducted to inform the residents to be more vigilant.
References
Coupe, T. & Griffiths, M. (1996). Solving residential burglary. London: Police Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.leotrainer.com/tburguk.pdf
Farrell, G., Clark, K., Ellingworth, D., & Pease, K. (2005). Of targets and supertargets: A routine activity theory of crime rates. Internet Journal Of Criminology, 2(1). Retrieved from http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Farrell,%20Clark,%20Ellingworth%20&%20Pease%20-%20Supertargets.pdf
Zembroski, D. (2011). Sociological Theories of Crime and Delinquency. Journal Of Human Behavior In The Social Environment, 21(3), 240-254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2011.564553
