Role Name Affiliation

Criminology

Police Science and Law Enforcement

Remove or Reduce Risk - Henry Fielding Methods

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Principal Investigator Prof.(Dr.) G.S. Bajapai Professor/Registrar, National Law University, Delhi Paper Coordinator Dr. Mithilesh Narayan Assistant Professor, Sardar Patel Bhatt University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur Content Writer/Author Dr. Swikar Lama Assistant Professor, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur Content Reviewer Prof. Arvind Tiwari Professor, TISS, Mumbai

DESCRIPTION OF MODULE

Items Description of Module Subject Name Criminology Paper Name Police Science and Law Enforcement Module Name/Title Remove or Reduce Risk - Henry Fielding Methods Module Id Crim/PSLE/XXXV

Objectives Learning Outcome:

 To make the learners understand the concepts of removal or

reduction Risk  To make the learners aware about Henry Fielding and his work  To familiarize the learners with various methods of risk management

Prerequisites General understanding of crime prevention methods

Key words Remove or Reduce Risk , Henry Fielding, risk management

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Module 35: Remove or Reduce Risk - Henry Fielding Methods

1. Introduction

Fielding was a playwright and novelist who accepted a position as magistrate deputy of Bow Street Court in 1748. He is credited with two major contributions to the field of policing (Gaines et al.). First, Fielding advocated change and spread awareness about social and criminal problems through his writings. Second, he organized a group of paid non uniformed citizens who were responsible for investigating crimes and prosecuting offenders. This group, called the Bow Street Runners, was the first group paid through public funds that emphasized crime prevention in addition to crime investigation and apprehension of criminals. While citizens responsible for social control used to simply react to crimes, the Bow Street Runners added the responsibility of preventing crime through preventive patrol, changing the system of policing considerably. Fielding had two goals, stamp out existing crime, and prevent outbreaks of crime in the future. He created the first neighborhood watch. His work with the English justice system led him to be called the “Father of Crime Prevention.” Bow Street Runners are considered the first British police force. Before the force was founded, the law enforcing system was very much in the hands of private citizens and single individuals with very little intervention from the state. Due to high rates of corruption and mistaken or malicious arrests, judge Henry Fielding decided to regulate and legalise their activity, therefore creating the Bow Street Runners.

Similar to the unofficial 'thief-takers' (men who would solve petty crime for a fee), they represented a formalization and regularization of existing policing methods. What made them different was their formal attachment to the Bow Street magistrates' office, and payment by the magistrate with funds from central government. They worked out of Fielding's office and court at No. 4 Bow Street, and did not patrol but served writs and arrested offenders on the authority of the magistrates, travelling nationwide to apprehend criminals.

Henry Fielding's work was carried on by his brother, Justice John Fielding, who succeeded him as magistrate in the Bow Street office. Under John Fielding, the institution of the Bow Street Runners gained more and more recognition from the government and although the force was

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only funded intermittently in the years that followed, it served as the guiding principle for the way policing was to develop over the next eighty years: Bow Street was a manifestation of the move towards increasing professionalization and state control of street life, beginning in London.

Fielding had become a Westminster magistrate in 1748 and in his house in Bow Street, Covent, he had started a kind of magisterial work that was different from anything that had been done before. Taking up the legacy of his predecessor, Sir Thomas de Veil, Fielding turned Bow Street in a court-like setting in which to conduct examinations.

Judge Henry Fielding

However, his reformed method was not limited to his magisterial activity in Bow Street, but it was also extended outside of the magistrate's office. In fact, since 1749–50 Henry Fielding had begun organizing a group of men with the task of apprehending offenders and taking them to Bow Street for examination and commitment to trial. Such an organized intervention was needed, according to Fielding, because of the difficulties and reluctance of private citizens to apprehend criminals, especially if those were part of a gang — reluctance largely caused by the fear of retaliation and by the extremely high costs of the prosecution that would have to be paid by the victim of the crime. This activity, however, was very similar to the thief-takers' enterprise and, as such, it could have been considered as corrupt as the latter. Therefore, Fielding wrote a number of pamphlets to justify the activity of thief-taking; he argued that the legitimacy of this activity had been undermined by the actions of a few (see for example Jonathan Wild) and that, in fact, thief-takers performed a public service where the civil authorities were weaker. Another

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step towards the legitimization of the activity of the Bow Street Runners concerned the lawfulness of an arrest made by an ordinary citizen. Fielding made clear that constables were not the only one to have the right to make an arrest, but under special circumstances - such as with a warrant issued by a magistrate - also private citizens could act against a suspected criminal and arrest them.

Another problem that Fielding had to face was that of the economic support of the Runners; without any direct funding from the government, the men at Fielding's service were left relying on the rewards issued by the state after an offender's conviction and by private citizens in order to retrieve their stolen goods. It is also true that many of the original Runners were also serving constables, so they were financially supported by the state.[11] Nevertheless, the problem persisted and, in 1753, Fielding's initiative came close to failing when his men had stopped their thief-taking activity for some time. A way out of this situation came in the same year, when the government lamented spending too much money in rewards with no apparent decrease in the crime rates. At this point, the duke of Newcastle, the secretary of state at the time, asked Fielding for advice, which he presently gave. In the document that Fielding presented to the government revolved around the activity of the Bow Street officers; Fielding's suggestion consisted in that he be given more money in addition to his own magistrate's stipend for two main purposes. The first was, of course, to offer an economic support to the officers working in Bow Street that would have allowed these men to extend their policing activities well beyond the simple thief-taking. The other purpose was to advertise the activity of the Bow Street office and to encourage private citizens to report crimes and provide information about offenders; the advertisements would be published in the Public Advertiser, a paper in which, as some critics have pointed out, the Fielding brothers had a financial interest.

In late 1753, the government approved Fielding's proposal and established an annual subvention of £200 that allowed Fielding not only to support the advertisement and the Bow Street officers, but also to maintain a stable group of clerks who kept detailed records of their activities. A new kind of magistrate's office and of policing activity was therefore established and, after the death of Henry Fielding in 1754, it was carried on by his brother John, who had overseen the whole project and was to further expand and develop it over the following years.

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2. Birth of Crime Prevention Concept

Mid-1700’s - Henry Fielding took first positive steps to:  Stamp out crime  Prevent future outbreaks  Elicit Public help  Remove crime conditions  Establish a Strong police force Fielding had three objectives:  Development of a strong police force.  Organization of active group of citizens.  Actions to remove causes of crime and the conditions in which it flourished Henry Fielding, who’s Enquiry into the Cause of the Late Increase of Robberies, published in 1751, did so much to shape subsequent debate on the subject. As is well known, of course, Fielding was actively promoting his position as Bow Street magistrate and trying to establish himself at the centre of London’s criminal justice network. Habit was at the centre of Fielding’s concept of crime: ‘Vices and Diseases, with like Physical Necessity, arise from certain Habits in both; and to restrain and palliate the evil Consequences, is all that lies within the Reach of Art’ (Fielding, 1988a: 71). He went on to argue that ‘Vices, no more than diseases will stop … for bad Habits are as infectious by Example, as the Plague itself by Contact’ (Fielding, 12 1988a: 77). Accordingly, the key to preventing crime was to ensure that the occasions for encountering or transmitting vice were limited, preventing seduction into, and accumulation of bad habits (Dodsworth, 2007).

3. Risk Management Some of the ways through which risk of crime can be

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3.1. Risk Avoidance or Risk Removal - The first choice to be considered. The possibility of eliminating the existence of criminal opportunity or avoiding the creation of such an opportunity is always the best solution when additional factors are not created which prohibit the action.

Example: Removal of all cash from a location might eliminate the opportunity for a criminal act to acquire that cash, but in most cases it would also eliminate the ability to conduct business.

3.2. Risk Reduction - When avoiding or eliminating the criminal opportunity conflicts with the ability to conduct business, the next step is the reduction of the opportunity and the potential loss to the lowest level which is compatible with the business function.

Example: Only enough cash on hand for one day's operation.

3.3. Risk Spreading - Assets which remain exposed after the concepts of reduction and avoidance have been applied are the subject of this alternative. "That is the concept of a systems approach which limits loss by the time consumption and exposure of the perpetrator with the probability of apprehension prior to the consummation of the crime.

Example: Perimeter lighting, barred windows and intrusion detection limit the possible loss by reducing time available to remove assets and escape without apprehension.

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3.4. Risk Transfer - The only effective alternative remaining is to transfer those risks not reduced to an acceptable level to someone else. The two most common methods of accomplishing this are to insure and to raise prices to cover losses. When the first three concepts of risk management have been applied properly, this should be a more reasonable figure and obtainable at a lower cost than prior to the applications.

3.5. Risk Acceptance - All those risks remaining must be assumed by the business. Included with these are deductibles which have been made a part of the insurance coverage for premium reduction purposes. It is neither cost-effective nor practical to attempt to provide 100% protection for any business.

4. Removal or Reducing the Risk If it were not true that reducing opportunities helps prevent crime, no-one would bother to take routine precautions such as locking their cars and houses, keeping their money in safe places, counseling their children to avoid strangers, and watching the neighbors’ home when they are away. In fact, we all take these kinds of precautions every day of our lives. These actions might sometimes displace the risk of criminal attack to others. To avoid this and achieve more general reductions in risks of crime, wider action to reduce opportunities must be taken by the police, by government and by other agencies. Similar thinking guides several approaches to crime prevention, including: ● problem-oriented policing ● defensible space architecture ● crime prevention through environmental design ● situational crime prevention. Despite their differences, each seeks to reduce opportunities for crime for particular kinds of targets, places, and classes of victims. Each is concerned with preventing very specific kinds of crime. None of the four attempts to improve human character. Most important, all four seek to block crime in practical, natural, and simple ways, at low social and economic costs. Other methods through which risks of crime can be reduced or removed are:

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(a) Target hardening This first principle is exactly what it says. It means making it physically more difficult to commit the crime, such as:  Fitting better, stronger locks to your doors and windows  Replacing an ordinary entrance door with one that is certificated to the enhanced security standard  Installing a retractable gate behind those vulnerable French doors.  Fitting a strong padlock and hasp and staple to the shed door  Using a ‘crook lock’ on an older car and fitting a locking petrol cap  Using thick laminated glass in shop windows (b) Target Removal This is about remembering to remove something from risk or from view. Examples include:  Removing items of value from your parked car or putting them out of sight in the boot  Putting the car in the garage  Putting things like jewellery, money and important documents into an insurance rated fire safe or in a safety deposit box when you go on holiday  Removing items of value from view through a downstairs window  Not leaving a mobile phone on a table when ordering food and drinks at the bar  Not hanging a handbag on the back of a chair in a busy café  Not carrying your wallet in a back pocket  Growing a climbing shrub over a repeatedly graffitied wall. (c) Removing the Means (to Commit Crime) Criminals often need stuff to commit crime and these are some examples:

 Being careful not to show others your PIN when using a credit card  Keeping passwords hidden  Chaining up the wheelie bins and ladders so they can’t be used as a climbing aid to break into your house  Not leaving a key in a back door, especially if it has a cat-flap  Taking spare car keys with you or securing them in insurance rated safe

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 Not leaving gardens tools lying around the garden  Not lighting elevations of a building that cannot be overlooked by potential witnesses  Searching passengers at airports  Blocking up the door’s letter plate and using a locking letterbox instead (d) Reducing the Pay-Off This is about reducing the profit the thief can make from the crime and includes  Marking your property in such a way that others will not want to purchase the item from the thief  Not buying property you believe or suspect to be stolen  Registering your mobile phone on Immobilise  Displaying empty boxes in shop windows  Using dye alarms in cash carrying cases and dye alarm tags on clothing

(e) Access Control Access control is about preventing the criminal gaining access to the target, which might be a thing, a person or a building. Here are some examples:  Having a 1.8 metre fence around the garden complete with trellis and climbing prickly shrubs and a well locked gate of equal height  Making sure you lock your doors and windows  Making sure that car doors and windows are locked  Adding an access control system to the main entrance of a block of flats  Employing a security guard and barrier at the entrance to an industrial estate  Putting up gates at the entrances to back alleys that run to the rears of houses (f) Surveillance Criminals would rather not have their crimes witnessed and you can deter some by:  Ensuring that the front hedge is not so high that close approaches to the front of the house can’t be seen from the road or by the neighbours (also known as increasing Informal Surveillance)  Employing security officers to patrol an office complex or shopping centre (also known as increasing Formal Surveillance)

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 Installing a monitored CCTV system along a high street or around the home  Establishing Neighbourhood Watch or Home Watch in your street  Training employees how to challenge strangers in their building or on the site  Not filling a shop window up with so many posters that people on the street cannot look in. (g) Environmental Change Environmental change is about improving the condition and appearance of streets and open spaces so that the area has the impression of being looked after by the local inhabitants. A built environment that is under the control of its residents tends to suffer fewer crimes. This is achieved by:  Gating back alleys that run to the rear of terraced homes to reduce the chance of burglary and theft from the garden and fly-tipping  ‘Greening up’ Brownfield and derelict sites  Clearing away domestic waste dumped in the street and left in people’s back gardens using skips supplied by the local authority  Where it is appropriate increasing the amount of private space by introducing new planting and fencing  Cleaning away graffiti within 48 hours  Refurbishing old rundown buildings Improving the street lighting (h) Rule Setting This is about household and commercial discipline (habit setting) and giving clear indications to a potential thief that certain routines are in place to thwart criminal behaviour. It might also be the display of a sign warning people to do or not to do something. This might include:  Agreeing some routines with the family, such as the last person going out of an evening leaves plenty of lights on and makes sure that everything is locked up  Informing visitors arriving in an office car park to report to the reception desk and to wear a visitor’s badge during their visit.  Displaying a ‘No Cold Caller’ sign or a ‘We do not buy goods at the door’ sign on your door or window

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 Displaying signs such as ‘No Trespassers’, ‘No Access Beyond this Point’ and ‘No Smoking’ etc  Many of our Road Signs set rules (i) Increasing the Chances of Being Caught This principle is similar to Surveillance in some respects, but includes measures specifically intended to track down and catch the criminal  Using alarm tags on clothing to trigger an alarm to catch shoplifters  Using tracking software in a PC or laptop so that its new location will be covertly signaled to a monitoring station  Using tracking devices on vehicles that can discover the vehicle’s location should it be stolen  Using appropriate security lighting to illuminate potential thieves  Using a smoke (vapour) generating alarm to disorientate intruders who are burgling premises, so that they might be caught inside.  Covert CCTV and police observations points set up to obtain evidence  Property marking

(j) Deflecting Offenders This last principle is quite varied in its approaches and can include:  The use of timer switches to make your home look occupied when you’re away on holiday  The use of cardboard cut-out uniformed policemen in shop doorways and cardboard police cars on motorway bridges  Referring drug users to drug rehabilitation programmes in order to stop them stealing to fund their habit  Running youth diversionary schemes during school holidays  Making certain streets ‘one-way’ for vehicles  Introducing parking restrictions

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4. Conclusion: Henry Fielding planted the seed of crime prevention which has now grown into a tree- with its various branches like Problem oriented policing, CPTED and Situational Crime Prevention which have proved effective in removal or reducing the crime to a large extent.

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