Attractive object

Attractive object

An attractive object is an urban object with a high appeal to potential criminals.

Identification of attractive objects

An attractive object is characterised by the fact that it has perceived qualities that match the motives of potential perpetrators. This means that the actual characteristics of an object (for example, are there really objects of value inside the building?) are less relevant than the perceived characteristics (do potential perpetrators think that there are objects of value inside the building?).

The identification of attractive objects is done in the SecuRbAn tool by checking the characteristics that match motives of potential perpetrators with the perceived characteristics of the urban object.

Objects with valuable goods

These objects attract criminals who are in search of a gain in wealth, by one of the following modi operandi:

• get in and hide
• breaking and entering
• ram-raiding
• car theft

Identifying objects with valuable goods can be done by checking:

• are valuable goods present in the objects?
• can potential perpetrators get the idea that valuable objects are present? Examples are objects that have a exceptionally high level of visible protection measures ('where there's smoke, there's fire'), a visible flow of valuables, a high external stature, outside markings that indicate the presence of valuables (such as the word 'bank' on the facade), are valuable goods visible from the outside or can their presence be deducted?

Both questions are relevant to the assessment: if valuables are actually present, someone will find out sooner or later. If no valuables are present, but the appearance indicates otherwise, the object can still become a target.

Objects with valuable information

These objects attract criminals who are in search of a gain in wealth, by one of the following modi operandi:

• get in and hide
• breaking and entering
• ram-raiding
• car theft

Identifying objects with valuable information can be done by checking:

• is valuable information present in the objects?
• can potential perpetrators get the idea that valuable information is present? Examples are objects that have a exceptionally high level of visible protection measures ('where there's smoke, there's fire'), a visible use of valuable information (such as creditcard numbers), outside markings that indicate the presence of valuable information (such as the word 'passport office' on the facade), is valuable information visible from the outside (even from cyberspace) or can their presence be deducted?

Both questions are relevant to the assessment: if valuables are actually present, someone will find out sooner or later. If no valuables are present, but the appearance indicates otherwise, the object can still become a target.

Objects with symbolic value

These objects can attract fanatics and protesters towards destruction of property.

What characteristics attract fanatics, depends on the type of fanatic:

Religious fanatic

Identifying objects that attract religious fanatics can be done by checking:

• Does the object have a strong religious or anti-religious association?
• Does the object have a strong symbolic value in the religion?
• Do fanatics exist that strongly oppose these values?

Ethnical fanatic

Identifying objects that attract ethinical fanatics can be done by checking:

• Does the object have a strong ethnical or anti-ethnical association?
• Do fanatics exist that strongly oppose this ethnical group?

Ideological fanatic

Ideological fanatics are fanatics who act from other motives than religious or ethnical, such as communists, anti-globalists or environmental. Beware that this category only concerns fanatics, not activists. The difference between the two categories is that activists perform their action within the bounds of the law.

As the motives for this rest group of fanatics can differ, one can only identify possible targets by checking:

• Does the object have a strong ideological or anti-ideological association?
• Do fanatics exist that strongly oppose or support this ideology?

Prominent object

A prominent object is an object with a high public stature. This is important for fanatics to make sure an attack to an object will get a lot of media attention.

Prominent objects can be identified by checking:

• Does the object have an important societal contribution, i.e. would the destruction of the object impact the lives of many people?
• Does the object have a high societal status, such as a high gouvernmental building, a royal dwelling or a residence of a VIP
• Does the object have a high symbolic value, such as the statue of independence in America, the Eiffel tower in France or the London Bridge?

Visible object

A visible object is an object that is visible and distinctive from a wide range of the surroundings.

Gain of wealth

This concerns all security issues of thieves against objects:

Attractive objects for the motive gain of wealth can be identified by checking:

• are valuable goods present or do they appear to be present? Examples are objects that have a exceptionally high level of visible protection measures ('where there's smoke, there's fire'), a visible flow of valuables, a high external stature, outside markings that indicate the presence of valuables (such as the word 'bank' on the facade), are valuable goods visible from the outside or can their presence be deducted?

Amusement and compulsion

This concerns the security issues of vandals:

• destruction of property
• grafitti
• arsony

Attractive objects for the motive of amusement or compulsion can be identified by checking:

• are there elements of the object that are traditionally highly subject to destruction? Examples are bus shelters, advertising columns, fragile elements, etcetera.
• are there elements that feature smooth, accessible and preferably large and highly visible surfaces? Examples are blank walls, sides of concrete park benches or landscaping features, sides and undersides of bridges and tunnels.

There are no known reliable indicators that predict the attractiveness of objects for arsony.

Hate and protest

This concerns destruction of property by fanatics and protesters.

Attractive objects for the motive of hate and protest can be identified by checking:

• Does damaging the object attract a lot of attention?
• Does damaging the object do harm to a person or organisation that is perceived as opposing the fanatics' ideals?

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