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‘Wolves to the Door’ or ‘Lambs to the Slaughter?’ Crime Opportunity Searches on a New Public Transport System

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Safety and Security in Transit Environments

Part of the book series: Crime Prevention and Security Management ((CPSM))

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Abstract

The prospect of increased crime helps fuel the ‘not in my backyard’ (NIMBY) attitude that individuals may display when facing the introduction of a new transport system in their neighbourhood (see Wattrick, 2011). Some believe that new systems introduce crime by facilitating access between crime-prone areas (e.g. certain inner-city neighbourhoods) and relatively low-crime areas (e.g. certain residential neighbourhoods) (e.g. Garrison, 2008). This is not transport crime, per se, as that term generally connotes offenses committed on the system. Rather, this is transport-related crime — offenses near the stations. Transport-related crime is important to consider in the ‘whole-trip’ context. Regardless of actual victimization risk, the perceived risk experienced by public transport users at or near stations is a real component of trips (Wiebe et al., 2014; Loukaitou-Sideris, 2012). The thought that the system will bring offense and offender to the doorstep can have a detrimental effect upon perceived safety and, subsequently, may affect use, enjoyment and property values alike.

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© 2015 Christopher M. Sedelmaier

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Sedelmaier, C.M. (2015). ‘Wolves to the Door’ or ‘Lambs to the Slaughter?’ Crime Opportunity Searches on a New Public Transport System. In: Ceccato, V., Newton, A. (eds) Safety and Security in Transit Environments. Crime Prevention and Security Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137457653_7

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