Disregard for scientific facts and knowledge holders has usually been identified as a distinguishing feature of the penal populists’ politics. But is penal populism always anti-intellectual? In this article, I provide some deeper insight into the role of expertise in (penal) populist activity, especially in the context of the currently observed redefinition of expertise (some call it “the death of expertise”) and rapid development of new technologies that enable easy aggregation of citizensʼ collective wisdom. Will crowdlaw-making platforms prevent (penal) populism? Or will they strengthen it by facilitating the justification of radical and unnecessary changes in (criminal) law? Is there a place for traditionally conceived experts and established knowledge in crowdsourced law-making process, and if so, what should be their role?

The main research problem of this article is to check whether and how selected land use and facilities influence the spatial distribution of different kinds of urban thefts (and burglary) in Krakow. The analysis uses data on all crimes committed in Krakow in the years 2016–2018. Its results are generally consistent with the results of other similar studies in so far as they indicate a relationship between the increased criminal activity of perpetrators and the availability of potential victims or objects of attack. Both the higher density of crimes in general and theft in general occurred above all in facilities or in the immediate vicinity of facilities which accumulate large communities for various purposes (activity nodes) or in places which produce the high intensity of people flows (communication nodes). One land use and facilities coexist with an increased density of all types of thefts, while others coexist only with some of them. The results, however, seem inconsistent with the rational choice theory assumptions as high crime density rates were observed in the immediate vicinity of public and private monitoring cameras, as well as within 50 meters of police stations.

Zgodnie z ideą polityki karnej opartej na dowodach (ang. <i>evidence based crime policy</i>) w celu poprawy obiektywnego i subiektywnego bezpieczeństwa obywateli należy wdrażać takie inicjatywy, których skuteczność i celowość znajdują potwierdzenie w rzetelnie przeprowadzonych badaniach naukowych. Coraz częściej realizacji wspomnianych celów służy monitoring wizyjny cieszący się zresztą społeczną aprobatą. Jako że instalacja i zarządzanie takim systemem są działaniami kosztochłonnymi, kluczową kwestią jest zatem czy — w celu obniżenia poziomu przestępczości — wspomniane wydatki lepiej ponieść na kamery CCTV (ang. <i>Closed-Circuit TeleVision</i>) czy inne środki prewencyjne. Nie sposób jednak — co często zdarza się w praktyce — w ocenie skuteczności narzędzi prewencyjnych poprzestać na anegdotycznych doniesieniach o ich skuteczności. Bez przeprowadzenia wysokiej jakości (w rozumieniu metodologicznym) badań skuteczności monitoringu wizyjnego nie można rzetelnie odpowiedzieć na pytanie, czy jest on rzeczywiście skuteczny w walce z przestępczością. Przeprowadzenie badań ewaluacyjnych służących ocenie skuteczność kamer CCTV wymaga jednak rozważenia kilku kluczowych kwestii. Niniejszy artykuł stanowi zbiór rekomendacji dotyczących prawidłowej ewaluacji skuteczności monitoringu wizyjnego, która powinna zostać zaplanowana już na etapie projektowania systemu. Publikacja zawiera szczegółowy przegląd celów monitoringu wizyjnego, bez określenia których nie sposób wskazać, czy monitoring jest skuteczny (skuteczny to taki, który realizuje zakładane cele). Ponadto wskazuje on w jaki sposób wybrać obszary, w których zostanie przeprowadzona ewaluacja monitoringu, i zaplanować procedurę eksperymentalną. Wreszcie wskazuje, jaką metodę ewaluacji wybrać i w jaki sposób radzić sobie z nieuniknionymi ograniczeniami badań eksperymentalnych nad skutecznością monitoringu.

Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie ogólnych tendencji w przestrzennym zróżnicowaniu przestępczości w Krakowie w latach 2016–2017. Zostały one zrekonstruowane na podstawie przeprowadzonej z wykorzystaniem cyfrowej mapy zagrożeń analizy rozmieszczenia przestrzennego badanych zdarzeń oraz analizy nagromadzenia hot spot. Przestrzenna charakterystyka przestępczości sporządzona została w odniesieniu do ogółu przestępstw oraz do wybranych kategorii przestępstw. Analizy uzupełniono o wpływ zmiennej czasu – uwzględniono kategorie: roku popełnienia przestępstwa, pory roku i pory dnia.

The aim of the study is to present the results of a quantitative research study entitled“Security in Cracow”, which investigated the fear of crime among the city’s citizensin the years 2014–2016. Under the Agreement for Security concluded between the Cityof Cracow and the Jagiellonian University in 2014, the survey is held two times each year.Both the Agreement and the concept of the presented research arose from the moralpanic that was visible in Cracow in the second half of 2013, following several casesof serious offences committed by football hooligans and a widely publicised homicideof a young student in September 2013.Empirical analysis of the fear of crime faces numerous theoretical and methodolo -gical problems. For the purpose of the present research, an operational definition of fearof crime was adopted, according to which fear of crime is similar to the psychologicalconstruct of attitude, comprised of three components: cognitive, affective and be -havioural. The research was additionally intended to verify the selected hypotheseson the causes of fear of crime, that is the victimisation hypothesis, the vulnerabilityhypothesis and the reduction of social control hypothesis.The research was conducted via telephone interviews (CATI, Computer AssistedTelephone Interviews) six times – in March and September 2014 (N = 1815 andN = 1770), June and September 2015 (N = 1808 and N = 1811), April and September2016 (N = 1820 and N = 1803). The sample was representative for the gender, ageand the district of the city’s residents. The questionnaire included 33 items: 13 itemson the demographic and social participants’ characteristics, and 20 concerning:a) prob lems and threats encountered in Cracow, b) the respondents’ sense of safetyin Cracow, their district of residence and the nearest surroundings, c) victimisation,the likelihood of becoming a victim to a crime, the means adopted to prevent crime,and d) the attitudes towards the services responsible for security and public order.To measure the fear of crime, an index was constructed based on the questionnaireitems referring to its three components. In the light of the results of the past six roundsof the study, the level of the citizens’ fear can be estimated as low. However, a moderatelysized group of citizens was identified whose fear of crime was at a considerable leveland who – in future research – ought to be addressed in a more qualitative manner toexplore the underlying causes of their fear.Evidence was found to support the victimisation hypothesis, according to whichfear of crime is correlated with the experience of being an actual victim of a crime.Additionally, the vulnerability hypothesis that claims fear of crime results fromperceiving oneself as a potential target of criminal activity was partially corroboratedin the light of the obtained results. Evidence was found to support the fear of crimeparadox with reference to gender, though not to age differences. Finally, the reductionof the social control hypothesis states that fear of crime is related to the condition andstrength of the local communities. The obtained results suggest that the respondents’fear of crime is correlated with the perceived disorder in the nearest surroundings, butno evidence has been found that it is related to the disintegration of neighbourhoodties.Fear of crime remains an important social issue which influences the quality ofcitizens’ lives on the individual (personal) level, the level of local communities and onthe macrosocial one. To maximise citizens’ security, it is essential to undertake actionsaddressed to the objective (minimisation of threats and/or dangers) and subjective(focus on citizens’ sense of safety) understanding of safety.The research in question is unique on both the national and the internationallevel. Periodical analyses of this sort based on the same research questionnaire providea rare opportunity to investigate temporal and spatial dynamics of the phenomenonin question. The authors believe that the presented research will contribute to scientificdiscussion concerning the methods of measuring fear of crime and will allow the safety stakeholders to recognise the need for research-based community crime prevention programmes.