The independent Alliance of design experts will raise the profile of how design can tackle crime. They will work with the Home Office with the aim of getting across the message that designing out crime can cut crime in the future by making in harder and less attractive for criminals – in turn making people and communities feel safer. It is one part of a renewed focus on designing out crime in the Government’s new Crime Strategy announced last month by the Home Secretary.
The two founder members, Sebastian Conran, of Conran & Partners, and Chairman of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, John Sorrell have been joined by:
- David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council;
- Jeremy Myerson, Professor of Design Studies at the Royal College of Art;
- Professor Gloria Laycock, Director of the UCL Centre for Security and Crime Science; and,
- Lorraine Gamman, Director of the Design Against Crime Research Centre at Central St Martins School of Art and Design.
Home office Minister Vernon Coaker said:
“Innovative design has played an important role in driving down crime overall by third over the past decade. Much of the 51 per cent fall in vehicle crime in particular can be attributed to design improvements such as immobilisers and toughened glass.
“The Design and Technology Alliance will seek to build on these achievements. They will champion the message that designing out crime is about sustainable and innovative design of products, spaces and places to make crime unattractive and make communities feel safer.
“I want to encourage business to accept as routine their responsibility to ensure products and services do not create new crime opportunities. We have already seen successes particularly through our close working with the mobile phone industry who have today announced they have met the targets we set for them to block stolen handsets within 48 hours of theft rendering them useless to criminals.
“Crime has a social impact, so it must be considered in the same way that impact on the environment or health and safety risks for customers are considered. We must maximise the influence good design can have in the fight against crime.”
Also today the terms of reference of the Alliance have been published on the Home Office website. They include:
- Generating positive design approaches and solutions to specific crime issues and disorder problems;
- Advising on strategies for the wider implementation of these ideas working with industry, the police, consumer organisations and other partners;
- Inspiring designers to produce positive design solutions, for example through commissions, awards and publicity;
- Demonstrating that design against crime is both attractive and desirable, and will drive sales through increased consumer value;
- Advising on and assisting with the development of consumer-oriented initiatives and innovations, based on sound consumer insight;
- Identifying potential threats, solutions and opportunities presented by new and innovative technologies; and,
- Generally raising the profile of design against crime within industry and commerce, to place it firmly at the core of the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda.
Cost-benefit analysis has shown that remedial design measures can deliver savings of up to five times the original investment, along with crime reductions of up to 70 per cent. The benefit would be even greater if action were taken at the concept design stage. There are numerous examples of how design interventions have helped to reduce crime:
- Aircraft hijackings decreased from 70 to 15 per year in the 1970s after routine passenger and baggage screening was introduced;
- Chip and Pin slashed credit card fraud at UK retailers in 2006 by 46 per cent;
- Houses that meet ACPO Secured By Design (SBD) standards experience a quarter less crime than non-SBD houses, and residents fear of crime is lower.
1. The new Home Office Crime Strategy was launched on 19 July 2007 and can be downloaded from the Home Office website
2. More experts from the product and manufacturing, built environment and service design sectors are expected to join the Alliance before its first meeting in September 2007.
3. Thereafter, the Alliance will meet formally each quarter whilst providing ad hoc advice to Government as required. A governance board will be set up comprising organisations across Government in the business and design sector, consumer organisations and the police who will be key to the delivery.
4. Independent test results showed this year that the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF) – made up of Government, industry and the police – made good its pledge to block 80 per cent of mobile phones, across all networks, within 48 hours of them being reported stolen, making them less attractive to criminals. Figures published in the MICAF annual report today show that over 5 million lost and stolen mobile phones have been blacklisted by the mobile networks. A summary of the report can be found at www.micaf.co.uk.
5. The latest Home Office ‘R U GETTIN THE MSG’ mobile phone blocking campaign is running in weekly youth magazines, on phone boxes, on shopping centre bins in robbery hotspots and online across the country. It is supported by MICAF and the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit and aims to use the fact that stolen mobiles can now be blocked within 48 hours to tackle the domestic youth market for phones. For copies of the creative please contact the Home Office press office.
6. ACPO secured by design standards can be viewed at www.acpo.police.uk.
7. Further examples of how crime has successfully cut through design can be downloaded from the Publications section of the Design Council website.
8. The Sorrell Foundation Young Design Centre is open at Somerset House. The Centre includes an exciting new interactive exhibition to explore what's next for schools in Britain, and to inspire everyone involved in renewing school environments. More information is available from the Somerset House website