NCJ Number
78256
Date Published
1980
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This British evaluation, conducted within the Home Office Research Unit, assesses the impact of a 1979 Central Office of Information advertising campaign on police autocrime statistics and vehicle security.
Abstract
The evaluation used three measures of campaign effectiveness: (1) the number of recorded offenses of thefts of and from motor vehicles which were obtained for police forces within the campaign and control areas for the campaign and precampaign periods, (2) detailed information on police crime reports recording the theft of a motor vehicle, and (3) vehicle security checks conducted by police officers on parked cars in January 1979 before the campaign began and in March 1979 at the end of the campaign. The evaluation findings suggest that the 1979 autocrime campaign met with little success either in achieving improvements in car-locking behavior or in reducing the number of recorded car thefts. It is suggested that the campaign failed to produce discernible improvements in vehicle security for two reasons. First, the campaign failed to produce large enough changes in perception of risk either generally or in relation to specific parking situations. Further, the campaign may have done little to overcome other beliefs supporting noncompliance with its recommendations. Tabular data and footnotes are included.