Version 1
: Received: 10 March 2022 / Approved: 11 March 2022 / Online: 11 March 2022 (08:31:34 CET)
How to cite:
Halford, E. A Practitioners Perspective of the Implementation Effectiveness of the Optimal Forager Theory Methodology within the United Kingdom. Preprints2022, 2022030163. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0163.v1
Halford, E. A Practitioners Perspective of the Implementation Effectiveness of the Optimal Forager Theory Methodology within the United Kingdom. Preprints 2022, 2022030163. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0163.v1
Halford, E. A Practitioners Perspective of the Implementation Effectiveness of the Optimal Forager Theory Methodology within the United Kingdom. Preprints2022, 2022030163. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0163.v1
APA Style
Halford, E. (2022). A Practitioners Perspective of the Implementation Effectiveness of the Optimal Forager Theory Methodology within the United Kingdom. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0163.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Halford, E. 2022 "A Practitioners Perspective of the Implementation Effectiveness of the Optimal Forager Theory Methodology within the United Kingdom" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0163.v1
Abstract
The use of crime mapping has been used by the police to inform deployment of resources for many decades. Such approaches are commonly used to underpin crime control strategies designed to prevent or reduce acquisitive crimes such as domestic burglary. In recent decades there has been a shift away from simple hot spot identification to more complex geospatial mapping methodologies, such as near repeat analysis which was developed through research regarding burglary victimisation. One of these newly emerging methodologies is built upon the ecological, optimal forager theory (OFT). Research using this theory to examine domestic burglary offending intimated potential for positive results in predicting areas at risk of future crime. This led to a number of police services using crime analysis methodologies built upon OFT to underpin their deployment of resources in an effort to prevent or reduce domestic burglary through increased capable guardianship. However, to date, there has been no detailed examination of how the police services implemented such approaches. As such, this study seeks to fill this gap by examining OFT strategies implemented within 5 police services. By interviewing participants directly involved in the programs the study gathers views and perspectives of its relative success. As a result, we identify that participants felt the strategies produced limited impact on recorded burglary crime. We discuss how despite some positive by-products of the strategies, failure to comprehensively apply the theoretical foundations of OFT, and a variety of implementation failures have undermined the various programs, ultimately impacting their effectiveness.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
