Crime and Incivilities in Libraries: Situational Crime Prevention Strategies for Thwarting Biblio-Bandits and Problem Patrons

Cromwell, Paul; Alexander, Gwen; Dotson, Paul

doi:10.1057/palgrave.sj.8350033

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The design of the library's environment has a clear effect on both visitors' and staff's safety perceptions. Research has long suggested that certain environmental characteristics have a positive effect on reducing crime incidents and enhancing feelings of safety, while others have adverse impacts, and seem to relate to higher incidents and/or low safety perceptions (Carey, 2008; Cromwell et al ., 2008; Henrich and Stoddart, 2016). Our findings show exactly that, namely that the right height for bookshelves and better lighting can improve safety in the library but also ensure that staff are more visible in the library.…”

Section: Discussion Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shuman (1999) illustrated examples of the systematic work on this area followed by Chaney and MacDougall (2019), whose book was partially devoted to the importance of design for safety conditions in libraries (see also Bean, 2019; Houlgate and Chaney, 2019; Ratcliffe, 2019). More recent studies call for increased knowledge in challenging situations, including acts of terrorism (Cromwell et al ., 2008; Henrich and Stoddart, 2016; Kahn, 2008; Shuman, 1999; Simmons, 2018). However, only a handful of these studies empirically examine safety perceptions of staff and/or visitors (but see, e.g.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Areas with poor natural surveillance such as behind and between bookshelves have great potential for crime (Cromwell et al ., 2008). Dark areas and corners that lack proper illumination are also safety-related areas of concern (Carey, 2008; Cromwell et al ., 2008; Henrich and Stoddart, 2016). Some areas are criminogenic because of the activities they attract.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These incidents can make visitors feel unsafe and have negative consequences for the staff's working environment. On one hand, librarians may currently have to deal with and make attempts to neutralize patrons' and visitors' antisocial behavior (Cromwell et al ., 2008; Pease, 1995), tasks that most staff feel unprepared for. On the other hand, if visitors perceive staff as unprepared or the library as a hostile environment, they may start taking precautionary measures or may not even return to the library.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Safety in a public library: the perspective of visitors and staff

Ceccato,

Ercin,

Hazanov

et al. 2023

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PurposeIn this study, the authors report visitors' and personnel's safety experiences and concerns in order to understand the safety conditions of a library.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on answers from a small sample survey of library visitors, interviews with the personnel and incidents recorded in a library in Stockholm the capital of Sweden.FindingsDealing with visitors under influence of drugs/alcohol or feeling intimidated by groups of young individuals are examples of situations in which the staff feel most unsafe. Visitors declare witnessing problems of public disturbance and disorderly conduct, fights and other types of aggression. Although the vast majority of visitors declare feeling safe in the library, their perceptions vary according to the library's environment and their individual characteristics, including their previous victimization.Practical implicationsThe study is novel because it indicates the importance of the environment to ensure the safety conditions of the library for both visitors and staff. Finally, research on safety in libraries is often from North America and Western European contexts, while this study contributes to the international literature by illustrating libraries in a Nordic European context.Social implicationsThe study indicates that more social control, both formal and informal, is at the top of the list of recommendations for visitors. Among personnel, recommendations include the need for cooperation with other local actors to solve problems in surrounding areas as well as better education for librarians in dealing with the current safety challenges of libraries as multifunctional public facilities.Originality/valueCombine visitors' and personnel's safety experiences to better understand the safety conditions of a public library.

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Section: Discussion Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Safety in a public library: the perspective of visitors and staff

Ceccato,

Ercin,

Hazanov

et al. 2023

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“…In contrast, storage in depots is typically significantly cheaper. There are many factors that potentially contribute to this, for example, depots can be located where space is cheaper, theft rates (e.g., Cromwell, Alexander, & Dotson, 2008) are lower in areas not open to the public, and storage density (e.g., Boysen, Briskorn, & Emde, 2017) is higher in warehouses than in libraries.…”

Section: A3 Libraries Face Significant Inventory Holding Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross docking for libraries with a depot

Heide

Roodbergen

Foreest

2021

European Journal of Operational Research

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Understanding and Controlling Hot Spots of Crime: The Importance of Formal and Informal Social Controls

2013

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Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention programs that address opportunity or structural factors related to crime are usually delivered to entire cities, sections of cities or to specific neighborhoods, but our results indicate geographically targeting these programs to specific street segments may increase their efficacy. We link crime incidents to over 24,000 street segments (the two block faces on a street between two intersections) over a 16-year period, and identify distinct developmental patterns of crime at street segments using group-based trajectory analysis. One of these patterns, which we term chronic crime hot spots, includes just 1 % of street segments but is associated with 23 % of crime in the city during the study period. We then employ multinomial regression to identify the specific risk and protective factors that are associated with these crime hot spots. We find that both situational opportunities and social characteristics of places strongly distinguish chronic crime hot spots from areas with little crime. Our findings support recent efforts to decrease crime opportunities at crime hot spots through programs like hot spots policing, but they also suggest that social interventions directed at crime hot spots will be important if we are to do something about crime problems in the long run. We argue in concluding that micro level programs which focus crime prevention efforts on specific street segments have the potential to be less costly and more effective than those targeted at larger areas such as communities or neighborhoods.

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Crime and Incivilities in Libraries: Situational Crime Prevention Strategies for Thwarting Biblio-Bandits and Problem Patrons

Cited by 9 publications

References 6 publications

Safety in a public library: the perspective of visitors and staff

Safety in a public library: the perspective of visitors and staff

Cross docking for libraries with a depot

Understanding and Controlling Hot Spots of Crime: The Importance of Formal and Informal Social Controls

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