Property Marking
Problems addressed
Robberies
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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Life periods served
People of all ages
Where the program was applied
Residence / home
Community (streets or community centers)
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a program that consists of personalizing and marking material goods, with the aim of reducing the theft of valuable items in cases of home invasions. Residents of selected housing sectors took part in this program.
To achieve high adoption rates for the program, three strategies were used:
1) Publicity;
2) Home visits by police officers and team members;
3) Personalization equipment and decals for doors and windows, which were given away free of charge.
Participating residents completed a questionnaire confirming their participation and received follow-up visits six months later.

Impact evaluations

An impact assessment showed that in the 12-month period following the launch of the program, there was a 40% reduction in reported robberies in the target area. In the second year, there was an even greater drop in this type of crime. The authors did not observe any displacement of crime to nearby homes not participating in the intervention [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Laycock, G. (1991). Operation identification, or the power of publicity. Security Journal, v. 2, n. 2, p. 67-72.

Information source