Measure type: Target hardening
Target hardening is the measure of strengthening the security by increasing the required effort to commit crimes to or at an object.
Contents
Description
This situational crime prevention approach involves the use of devices or materials designed to obstruct the vandal by physical barriers:
- Toughened glass (acrylic, polycarbon, etc.)
- Latticework or screens to cover windows
- Fire-retardant paint
- High-impact plastic or steel fixtures
- Hardened rubber or plastic swing seats
- Concrete or steel picnic tables, benches, bleachers
- Trash receptacles bolted to concrete bases
- Rough-play-tolerant adventure playgrounds
- Original planting of large-diameter trees
- Slash-proof transit vehicle seats
- Steel-framed bus seats
- Anti-graffiti repellent spray on bus seats
- Tamper-proof sign hardware and fasteners
- Door anchor hinges with non-removable pins
Essential conditions
Requirements to the urban environment
Effectiveness
Economic effectiveness
Target hardening lowers the costs of security threats, but also requires time and money by private agents, companies/developers and the public authorities, exacting economic costs. Together the benefits and costs are referred to as economic impact of security measures. The costs of surveillance measures contain the relatively straightforward direct expenditures on capital equipment and operational costs (both temporary and permanent), and in addition generate various types of secondary effects. Whether the costs are making sense from an economic point of view, depends on many factors, and can be answered by two distinct sets of questions:
- Are the envisioned target hardening measures cost effective from a socio-economic point of view, or are there better alternatives?
- Which specific agents (individuals, companies, sectors, authorities) are affected by the target hardening measures, and to which extend? How do the envisioned measures adjust the behaviour of these agents, and of course the behaviour of criminals/terrorists?
Economic tools can help the decision makers to answer these questions and to prevent wasteful expenditures on security (of course in collaboration with insights from criminology, sociology, etc.). A good example of efficient target hardening is sustainable design.
Side effects
Footnotes and references