NCJ Number
211695
Date Published
2005
Length
77 pages
Annotation
This chapter conducts an international review of changes that have been made to criminogenic products at manufacture, with or without government influence, so as to explore future policy options in making products less functional as crime tools and crime targets as well as to identify effective means of government intervention.
Abstract
The review encompasses the United Kingdom, other European countries, the United States, and Australia. The review addresses two kinds of modifications made at the manufacturing stage: changes to the product itself and changes to its labeling and packaging. The products reviewed include any mass-produced items that have been altered to prevent crime. The chapter describes the range of products modified, the effectiveness of the modifications, and the scope of future changes made possible by new technology. It also explains why governments have become increasingly drawn into product change in the interest of preventing crime associated with the product. In addition to describing the various roles governments have taken in this field, the authors identify the roles of other change agents, such as the media and pressure groups. In addition to the resistance of business and industry to government intervention in product design and change, governments have been impeded in this endeavor by the size and complexity of the undertaking. Governments should establish specialized agencies to be responsible for promoting product change, averting crime "harvests" by identifying new products that clearly introduce new criminal opportunities, and developing a problemsolving capacity for quickly addressing unforeseen threats caused by the criminal exploitation of new and existing products. 5 tables, 1 figure, 7 case studies, 52 notes, and 197 references