Dear Editor,
In the fight to reduce crime and the fear of crime the police should focus more on the habitat rather than the hunt particularly at hotspots locations. A hotspot can be a single address, a cluster of addresses, part of a block, an entire block or two or an intersection.
One tool to help the police tackle crime through problem solving is the crime triangle. The crime triangle is a model that illustrates how three elements – motivated suspect, suitable victim and adequate location are required for a crime to occur.
Most times law enforcement officials concentrate on the victims and the suspects.
They pay very little attention to the locations where political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental issues and concerns may be contributing to crime and criminal activities. As a result the police will dismantle a criminal gang and overnight another one emerges because the locations serve as ideal breeding grounds for criminals.
Braiden (1998, p.8) suggests another way to view the significance of location- ‘The hunt and the habitat’. He posited, “I can’t think of two special-interest groups more philosophically opposed to each other than hunters and animal rights activists, yet there are two things they agree upon: the specie will survive the hunt; it will not survive the loss of its habitat. What can policing learn from this basic principle of nature? Well, if the ultimate goal is to eliminate the criminal specie forever, surely the best way to do that is to eliminate the habitat that spawns and sustains that specie. Structured as it is, the criminal justice system puts 95 percent of its resources into the hunt while the habitat is left untouched. We can never win that way, because the habitat never stops supplying new customers for the hunt”.
Another tripartite security arrangement with the Government, the Police and the Communities to reduce crime is taking shape. Several hotspots are targeted. It must be spread and sustained across all the police divisions where crime is flourishing. Green shoots are emerging. With effective cooperation and coordination among the stakeholders the interventions will bear fruits. Sustainability must be the watchword.
Yours faithfully,
Clinton Conway
Assistant Commissioner of Police
Retired