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[[Category:Threat]]
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'''Security''' is the degree or act of protection of persons or [[asset|assets]] against [[risk]] stemming from the threat type [[human intent]]. The distinction between security and safety is explained in [[safety#Differences between safety and security|differences between safety and security]].
[[File:ae.png|25px|right|This is a page providing background in a specific field of expertise]]
[[File:Ask security.jpg|250px|right]]


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'''Security''' is the degree or act of protection of persons or objects against [[risk]] stemming from the threat type [[human intent]].
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= Security in the urban environment =


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==Security in the urban environment==
Security concerns harm done by persons by wilful action. As these actions are generally prohibited by law, these actions constitute [[crime|crimes]]. Security threats can therefore be classified by crime type.
Security concerns harm done by persons by wilful action. As these actions are generally prohibited by law, these actions constitute [[crime|crimes]]. Security threats can therefore be classified by crime type. The gravity of the crimes can range from fairly minor, such as pickpocketing, to very serious, such as terrorism. An exhaustive listing of all crime types distinguished in the various countries of Europe would not be useful, as this would encompass local regulations and crimes not relevant in an urban context. For this purpose, a categorisation of [[Security issues|criminal acts]] was developed.


The following security related topics are covered in Urban Securipedia:
== Crime types ==


*[[Security threats|Threats]]
A uniform classification of crime that is generally accepted does not exist. In the EU, member countries are obliged to report crime statistics in their country annually. Although countries will use their own systems and classifications, they report their figures according to the classification used for these statistics which distinguishes between the following crime types:
*[[Security Vulnerability|Vulnerabilities]]
* Homicide<ref>Definition: This is defined as intentional killing of a person, including murder, manslaughter, euthanasia and infanticide. Causing death by dangerous driving is excluded, as are abortion and help with suicide. Attempted (uncompleted) homicide is also excluded. The counting unit for homicide is normally the victim (rather than the case).</ref>,
*[[Measures]]
* Drug trafficking<ref>Definition:This is defined as the illegal possession, cultivation, production, supplying, transportation, importing, exporting, financing etc. of drug operations which are not solely in connection with personal use.</ref>,
* Robbery<ref>Robbery is a sub-set of violent crime. It is defined as stealing from a person with force or threat of force, including muggings (bag-snatching) and theft with violence. Pick-pocketing, extortion and blackmailing are generally not included.</ref>,
* Motor vehicle theft<ref>Motor vehicles include all land vehicles with an engine that run on the road which are used to carry people (including cars, motor cycles, buses, lorries, construction and agricultural vehicles, etc.).</ref>,
* Domestic burglary<ref>Domestic burglary is defined as gaining access to a dwelling by the use of force to steal goods.</ref> and
* Violent crime<ref>This includes violence against the person (such as physical assault), robbery (stealing by force or by threat of force), and sexual offences (including rape and sexual assault).</ref>.


At present, these topics are only covered where relevant for VITRUV and PRoTECT.
An indication of the relative size of these crime types and their development through the years is given in the next figure <ref>derived from [http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=crim_gen&language=en&mode=view Eurostat crime statistics database] "Crim_gen"</ref>.
[[File:crimestatseu.png|thumb|right|400px|crimetype statistics in the EU]]


Urban Securipedia provides knowledge and tooling primarily intended for use by three types of stakeholders:
This classification does not cover all types of crime and does not contain only mutually exclusive classes (robbery is defined as a type of violent crime).<br />
A classification that is developed<ref>Developed in the [http://www.securehaven.nl/ Secure haven project] and adapted for use in the [[concept tool#the risk assessment tool|risk assessment tool]] and this wiki.</ref> for use in the urban environment that the types of crime most relevant to urban design, is based on the motivation of perpetrators:
[[Image:clip_image004.png|thumb|right|400px|classification of crimetypes]]


*the urban planner, involved in the development and security of the urban environment
The first category of criminals ('''[[Thief|thieves]]''') is motivated by financial gain. They can be subdivided into:
*the event planner, involved in the organization and security of events in public space (against [[terrorism]]) such as an event organiser, but could also be a municipality
*the local security practitioners such as law enforcement agencies or municipalities, involved in securing urban environments (locally) with other stakeholder against crimes (specifically terrorism)


The information contained within Urban Securipedia is however useful for many other types of stakeholders with security challenges or researchers in this field.
* [[Thief#burglars|Burglars]], who gain wealth by illicitly entering buildings,
* [[Thief#Robbers|Robbers]], who gain wealth by force of threat.
* [[Thief#Extortionists|Extortionists]], who gain wealth by use of coercion and
* [[Thief#Frauds|Frauds]], who gain wealth by intentional deception


===Security for the urban planner===
The second category of criminal ('''[[vandal|vandals]]''') is motivated by amusement (such as bored youth bothering passers-by) or by compulsive behaviour (such as pyromaniacs). They can be sub divided into:
As the built environment can influence social behaviour, including criminal behaviour, the urban design can influence the (absolute and perceived) level of safety and security of the future residents. Three elements that are conductive for crimes to take place<ref name="plus" /> are:


*a motivated offender
* [[vandal#property vandal|Property vandals]], who seek damage or destruction of property, and
*a suitable goal or victim and
* [[vandal#person vandal|Person vandals]], who assaults other people physically or mentally.
*suitable opportunity (such as an absence of witnesses).


The urban environment and consequently, urban planning, can influence the likelihood of each of these elements being present. For example, the presence of offenders and potential victims (and particularly the meeting of the two) can be potentially influenced by a careful design of traffic flows and opportunities can be minimized by optimizing surveilability and minimizing deserted areas.
The third category ('''[[rioter|rioters]]''') is motivated by impulse, often under group pressure, often in a situation with a high level of excitement or arousal. Two subtypes of rioters are:


Of course, to effectively address crime by urban design, one needs to know the effect urban design can have on crime and underlying causes and what urban design instruments can be used to influence these effects. Urban Securipedia aims to support the urban planner in exactly this; it provides both instruments that can be incorporated in the urban planning and design process and insight in the effects the urban environment will have (both with or without implementation of these instruments) on crime. The effects of these instruments on criminals are predictable by sake of the actions of criminals being -to a large degree- rational and predictable:
* [[rioter#protester|Protesters]] and
* [[rioter#hooligan|Hooligans]].


*Offenders are very rational about maximising their opportunities. They weigh up the amount of effort they would need to make to commit a criminal act compared with the profits they would make from the crime. The immediate situation is the sum of the information from the environment which a motivated offender collects in order to make his/her decision before committing a crime<ref name="plus">[http://www.plus-eu.com/downloads/Final-Report_english-german.pdf Plus consortium, ''Final report'', Landeskriminalamt Niedersachsen, Zentralstelle Prävention, June 2012]</ref>.
The fourth and last category is motivated by conflict in beliefs ('''[[fanatic|fanatics]]''') and tries to impose rules or beliefs upon others by use of coercion. The level of coercion can vary a great deal, ranging from mental abuse to mass killing. Subtypes of fanatics are:
*Crime, and particularly violent crime, is the consequence of social conflicts that can escalate where there are corresponding external situational conditions: for example, long waiting time in conditions such as heat, noise, provocations, crowds in small spaces, etc., lead in the end to stress situations which then cause conflicts<ref>Wortley, Richard; ''Situational Precipitators of Crime'', In: Wortley Richard / Mazerolle Lorraine (Hrsg.), Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis. Willan. Collumpton and Portland, 2008.</ref>.


From the political and public administration point of view, security is often conceived of as a public good. This means in particular that
* [[fanatic#religious fanatics|Religious fanatics]], who try to impose religious beliefs or religious rules

* [[fanatic#ethnic fanatics|Ethnic fanatics]], who coerce specific ethnic groups and
#it rests on commonly acquired values. Those values can be material (capital, infrastructure, utilities, etc.) or immaterial ([[Security culture|security culture]], sense of community, etc.)
* [[fanatic#cultural fanatics|Cultural fanatics]], who try to impose cultural beliefs (for example about animal welfare in the fur industry, globalism or conservationism) upon others.
#it is commonly produced. This includes public-private partnerships as well as [[Citizen participation|citizen participation]] and ownership (see [[Civic culture|civic culture]]);
#nobody should be a priori exempt from its consumption.

It is therefore important to reconcile the idea of security with that of [[Community safety|community]].<ref>I. Loader/N. Walker: Civilizing Security. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 2007. </ref> This can be done, for example, by including the concept of [[Security culture|security culture]] into concepts for urban planning.

Critics have reprimanded any "clubbing of private security", which in their view contributes to the deconstruction of security as a public good, to the benefit of a short-sighted approach of mere physical risk reduction.<ref>T. Hope: Crime victimisation and inequality in risk society. In: R. Matthews/J. Pitts: Crime, Disorder and Community Safety. A New Agenda? London/New York: Routledge, 2001, p. 216.</ref> This includes scepticism of approaches to urban planning such as the [["designing out" approach]], as well as any production of security by use of exclusionary practices.<ref>G. Hughes: The Politics of Crime and Community. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007.</ref>

===Security for the event planner and local security practitioners===
For decades, terrorism has been a reality in many European countries and a continuous threat to a great number of European cities. It seriously threatens the safety, the values of democratic states and the rights and liberties of citizens. Acts of terrorism bring about long-term negative effects for cities and high social costs. Not only from a financial, but also from a psychological point of view in the sense of an increased feeling of insecurity among locals and visitors<ref>Efus. (2005). Secucities: Cities against Terrorism-Training Local Representatives in Facing Terrorism. Last visited on 19-02-2019 : <nowiki>https://issuu.com/efus/docs/cities_against_terrorism</nowiki> </ref>.

As stated by the European Commission in the Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces, ''“local and regional authorities are also important stakeholders in the protection of public space”''. In light of this, local authorities responsible for the safety and security of their citizens must be aware of the vulnerabilities of their public spaces in order to be able to adopt appropriate measures to prevent and mitigate terrorist attacks and their consequences<ref>European Commission. (2017). Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces. Last visited on 19-02-2019: <nowiki>https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-security/20171018_action_plan_to_improve_the_protection_of_public_spaces_en.pdf</nowiki>.</ref>.

An important stakeholder that concerns itself with the security of public areas is the event planner, who must take into account the possible risks and vulnerabilities when organising an event at a public venue. A second important category of stakeholders are local security practitioners, such as Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) or municipalities who are involved with public security in the urban environment in general (and in case of terrorist threats, most notably at potential [[soft targets]]) and who play an important role in the safeguarding of the public before, during and after an event. LEAs entail organisations such as the local, state or special police. Due to recent terrorist attacks in cities, often local governments (like municipalities) are also involved in the security and protection of public spaces against terrorism and work closely together with LEAs or event planners.


{{references}}
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Latest revision as of 11:23, 21 April 2021

This is a page providing background in a specific field of expertise
250px

Security is the degree or act of protection of persons or objects against risk stemming from the threat type human intent.

Security in the urban environment

Security concerns harm done by persons by wilful action. As these actions are generally prohibited by law, these actions constitute crimes. Security threats can therefore be classified by crime type. The gravity of the crimes can range from fairly minor, such as pickpocketing, to very serious, such as terrorism. An exhaustive listing of all crime types distinguished in the various countries of Europe would not be useful, as this would encompass local regulations and crimes not relevant in an urban context. For this purpose, a categorisation of criminal acts was developed.

The following security related topics are covered in Urban Securipedia:

At present, these topics are only covered where relevant for VITRUV and PRoTECT.

Urban Securipedia provides knowledge and tooling primarily intended for use by three types of stakeholders:

  • the urban planner, involved in the development and security of the urban environment
  • the event planner, involved in the organization and security of events in public space (against terrorism) such as an event organiser, but could also be a municipality
  • the local security practitioners such as law enforcement agencies or municipalities, involved in securing urban environments (locally) with other stakeholder against crimes (specifically terrorism)

The information contained within Urban Securipedia is however useful for many other types of stakeholders with security challenges or researchers in this field.

Security for the urban planner

As the built environment can influence social behaviour, including criminal behaviour, the urban design can influence the (absolute and perceived) level of safety and security of the future residents. Three elements that are conductive for crimes to take place[1] are:

  • a motivated offender
  • a suitable goal or victim and
  • suitable opportunity (such as an absence of witnesses).

The urban environment and consequently, urban planning, can influence the likelihood of each of these elements being present. For example, the presence of offenders and potential victims (and particularly the meeting of the two) can be potentially influenced by a careful design of traffic flows and opportunities can be minimized by optimizing surveilability and minimizing deserted areas.

Of course, to effectively address crime by urban design, one needs to know the effect urban design can have on crime and underlying causes and what urban design instruments can be used to influence these effects. Urban Securipedia aims to support the urban planner in exactly this; it provides both instruments that can be incorporated in the urban planning and design process and insight in the effects the urban environment will have (both with or without implementation of these instruments) on crime. The effects of these instruments on criminals are predictable by sake of the actions of criminals being -to a large degree- rational and predictable:

  • Offenders are very rational about maximising their opportunities. They weigh up the amount of effort they would need to make to commit a criminal act compared with the profits they would make from the crime. The immediate situation is the sum of the information from the environment which a motivated offender collects in order to make his/her decision before committing a crime[1].
  • Crime, and particularly violent crime, is the consequence of social conflicts that can escalate where there are corresponding external situational conditions: for example, long waiting time in conditions such as heat, noise, provocations, crowds in small spaces, etc., lead in the end to stress situations which then cause conflicts[2].

From the political and public administration point of view, security is often conceived of as a public good. This means in particular that

  1. it rests on commonly acquired values. Those values can be material (capital, infrastructure, utilities, etc.) or immaterial (security culture, sense of community, etc.)
  2. it is commonly produced. This includes public-private partnerships as well as citizen participation and ownership (see civic culture);
  3. nobody should be a priori exempt from its consumption.

It is therefore important to reconcile the idea of security with that of community.[3] This can be done, for example, by including the concept of security culture into concepts for urban planning.

Critics have reprimanded any "clubbing of private security", which in their view contributes to the deconstruction of security as a public good, to the benefit of a short-sighted approach of mere physical risk reduction.[4] This includes scepticism of approaches to urban planning such as the "designing out" approach, as well as any production of security by use of exclusionary practices.[5]

Security for the event planner and local security practitioners

For decades, terrorism has been a reality in many European countries and a continuous threat to a great number of European cities. It seriously threatens the safety, the values of democratic states and the rights and liberties of citizens. Acts of terrorism bring about long-term negative effects for cities and high social costs. Not only from a financial, but also from a psychological point of view in the sense of an increased feeling of insecurity among locals and visitors[6].

As stated by the European Commission in the Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces, “local and regional authorities are also important stakeholders in the protection of public space”. In light of this, local authorities responsible for the safety and security of their citizens must be aware of the vulnerabilities of their public spaces in order to be able to adopt appropriate measures to prevent and mitigate terrorist attacks and their consequences[7].

An important stakeholder that concerns itself with the security of public areas is the event planner, who must take into account the possible risks and vulnerabilities when organising an event at a public venue. A second important category of stakeholders are local security practitioners, such as Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) or municipalities who are involved with public security in the urban environment in general (and in case of terrorist threats, most notably at potential soft targets) and who play an important role in the safeguarding of the public before, during and after an event. LEAs entail organisations such as the local, state or special police. Due to recent terrorist attacks in cities, often local governments (like municipalities) are also involved in the security and protection of public spaces against terrorism and work closely together with LEAs or event planners.

Footnotes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Plus consortium, Final report, Landeskriminalamt Niedersachsen, Zentralstelle Prävention, June 2012
  2. ↑ Wortley, Richard; Situational Precipitators of Crime, In: Wortley Richard / Mazerolle Lorraine (Hrsg.), Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis. Willan. Collumpton and Portland, 2008.
  3. ↑ I. Loader/N. Walker: Civilizing Security. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  4. ↑ T. Hope: Crime victimisation and inequality in risk society. In: R. Matthews/J. Pitts: Crime, Disorder and Community Safety. A New Agenda? London/New York: Routledge, 2001, p. 216.
  5. ↑ G. Hughes: The Politics of Crime and Community. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007.
  6. ↑ Efus. (2005). Secucities: Cities against Terrorism-Training Local Representatives in Facing Terrorism. Last visited on 19-02-2019 : https://issuu.com/efus/docs/cities_against_terrorism
  7. ↑ European Commission. (2017). Action Plan to support the protection of public spaces. Last visited on 19-02-2019: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-security/20171018_action_plan_to_improve_the_protection_of_public_spaces_en.pdf.
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