Abstract
Crime prevention through environmental design(CPTED) assumes criminal acts are influenced by their inherent costs and benefits. Policy implications drawn from CPTED suggest home security measures increase these costs and reduce the likelihood of burglary. This paper tests the efficacy of home security measures. A telephone survey of 566 residents in Mobile County, Alabama, inquired about security measures burglary victims and nonvictims employed. A logistic regression solution found some, but not all, of these security measures to be quite effective.
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The author would like to thank Bill Doerner and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and patience. Thanks also go to Sheriff Jack Tillman, Captain Ronnie Phillips, and Thomas Barclay of the Mobile County (AL) Sheriffs Office for their support in this project.
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O’shea, T.C. The efficacy of home security measures. Am J Crim Just 24, 155–167 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887589
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887589