In The Bag: Techniques of Theft Prevention

Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) intervenes in the causes which offenders encounter, or seek out, in the immediate circumstances of the criminal event.

Situational Crime Prevention activities are extremely varied. However, they can be classified into just 25 techniques, organised in terms of which factors (risk, effort, reward, provocation, excuses) they primarily tackle. This schema is mainly the work of Professor Ron Clarke operating through the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.

The 25 generic SCP techniques provide inventive principles and ideas for designers and anyone else who wants to kick-start thinking about how to design out crime. The 10 techniques outlined in this document, reinterpreted from Ron Clarke’s original categories, aim to offer open-source information about situational crime prevention from a design point of view, that is relevant to bag theft from interior environments and public spaces.