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Criminology

Police Science and Law Enforcement

Remove or Reduce Risk - Henry Fielding Methods

Role Name Affiliation

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DESCRIPTION OF MODULE

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Criminology

Paper Name Police Science and Law Enforcement

Module Name/Title Remove or Reduce Risk - Henry Fielding Methods

Module Id Crim/PSLE/XXXV

Objectives

Learning Outcome:

To make the learners understand the concepts of removal or

reduction Risk

To make the learners aware about Henry Fielding and his

work

To familiarize the learners with various methods of risk

management

Prerequisites General understanding of crime prevention methods

Key words

Remove or Reduce Risk , Henry Fielding, risk management

Principal Investigator Prof.(Dr.) G.S. Bajapai Professor/Registrar, National Law

University, Delhi

Paper Coordinator Dr. Mithilesh Narayan

Bhatt

Assistant Professor, Sardar Patel

University of Police, Security and

Criminal Justice, Jodhpur

Content Writer/Author Dr. Swikar Lama Assistant Professor, Sardar Patel

University of Police, Security and

Criminal Justice, Jodhpur

Content Reviewer Prof. Arvind Tiwari Professor, TISS, Mumbai

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Module 35: Remove or Reduce Risk - Henry Fielding Methods

1. Introduction

Fielding was a playwright and novelist who accepted a position as magistrate deputy of Bow

Street Court in 1748. He is credited with two major contributions to the field of policing (Gaines

et al.). First, Fielding advocated change and spread awareness about social and criminal

problems through his writings. Second, he organized a group of paid non uniformed citizens who

were responsible for investigating crimes and prosecuting offenders. This group, called the Bow

Street Runners, was the first group paid through public funds that emphasized crime prevention

in addition to crime investigation and apprehension of criminals. While citizens responsible for

social control used to simply react to crimes, the Bow Street Runners added the responsibility of

preventing crime through preventive patrol, changing the system of policing considerably.

Fielding had two goals, stamp out existing crime, and prevent outbreaks of crime in the future.

He created the first neighborhood watch. His work with the English justice system led him to be

called the “Father of Crime Prevention.” Bow Street Runners are considered the first British

police force. Before the force was founded, the law enforcing system was very much in the hands

of private citizens and single individuals with very little intervention from the state. Due to high

rates of corruption and mistaken or malicious arrests, judge Henry Fielding decided to regulate

and legalise their activity, therefore creating the Bow Street Runners.

Similar to the unofficial 'thief-takers' (men who would solve petty crime for a fee), they

represented a formalization and regularization of existing policing methods. What made them

different was their formal attachment to the Bow Street magistrates' office, and payment by the

magistrate with funds from central government. They worked out of Fielding's office and court at

No. 4 Bow Street, and did not patrol but served writs and arrested offenders on the authority of

the magistrates, travelling nationwide to apprehend criminals.

Henry Fielding's work was carried on by his brother, Justice John Fielding, who succeeded him

as magistrate in the Bow Street office. Under John Fielding, the institution of the Bow Street

Runners gained more and more recognition from the government and although the force was

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only funded intermittently in the years that followed, it served as the guiding principle for the

way policing was to develop over the next eighty years: Bow Street was a manifestation of the

move towards increasing professionalization and state control of street life, beginning in London.

Fielding had become a Westminster magistrate in 1748 and in his house in Bow Street, Covent,

he had started a kind of magisterial work that was different from anything that had been done

before. Taking up the legacy of his predecessor, Sir Thomas de Veil, Fielding turned Bow Street

in a court-like setting in which to conduct examinations.

Judge Henry Fielding

However, his reformed method was not limited to his magisterial activity in Bow Street, but it

was also extended outside of the magistrate's office. In fact, since 1749–50 Henry Fielding had

begun organizing a group of men with the task of apprehending offenders and taking them to

Bow Street for examination and commitment to trial. Such an organized intervention was

needed, according to Fielding, because of the difficulties and reluctance of private citizens to

apprehend criminals, especially if those were part of a gang — reluctance largely caused by the

fear of retaliation and by the extremely high costs of the prosecution that would have to be paid

by the victim of the crime. This activity, however, was very similar to the thief-takers' enterprise

and, as such, it could have been considered as corrupt as the latter. Therefore, Fielding wrote a

number of pamphlets to justify the activity of thief-taking; he argued that the legitimacy of this

activity had been undermined by the actions of a few (see for example Jonathan Wild) and that,

in fact, thief-takers performed a public service where the civil authorities were weaker. Another

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step towards the legitimization of the activity of the Bow Street Runners concerned the

lawfulness of an arrest made by an ordinary citizen. Fielding made clear that constables were not

the only one to have the right to make an arrest, but under special circumstances - such as with a

warrant issued by a magistrate - also private citizens could act against a suspected criminal and

arrest them.

Another problem that Fielding had to face was that of the economic support of the Runners;

without any direct funding from the government, the men at Fielding's service were left relying

on the rewards issued by the state after an offender's conviction and by private citizens in order

to retrieve their stolen goods. It is also true that many of the original Runners were also serving

constables, so they were financially supported by the state.[11] Nevertheless, the problem

persisted and, in 1753, Fielding's initiative came close to failing when his men had stopped their

thief-taking activity for some time. A way out of this situation came in the same year, when the

government lamented spending too much money in rewards with no apparent decrease in the

crime rates. At this point, the duke of Newcastle, the secretary of state at the time, asked Fielding

for advice, which he presently gave. In the document that Fielding presented to the government

revolved around the activity of the Bow Street officers; Fielding's suggestion consisted in that he

be given more money in addition to his own magistrate's stipend for two main purposes. The first

was, of course, to offer an economic support to the officers working in Bow Street that would

have allowed these men to extend their policing activities well beyond the simple thief-taking.

The other purpose was to advertise the activity of the Bow Street office and to encourage private

citizens to report crimes and provide information about offenders; the advertisements would be

published in the Public Advertiser, a paper in which, as some critics have pointed out, the

Fielding brothers had a financial interest.

In late 1753, the government approved Fielding's proposal and established an annual subvention

of £200 that allowed Fielding not only to support the advertisement and the Bow Street officers,

but also to maintain a stable group of clerks who kept detailed records of their activities. A new

kind of magistrate's office and of policing activity was therefore established and, after the death

of Henry Fielding in 1754, it was carried on by his brother John, who had overseen the whole

project and was to further expand and develop it over the following years.

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2. Birth of Crime Prevention Concept

Mid-1700’s - Henry Fielding took first positive steps to:

Stamp out crime

Prevent future outbreaks

Elicit Public help

Remove crime conditions

Establish a Strong police force

Fielding had three objectives:

Development of a strong police force.

Organization of active group of citizens.

Actions to remove causes of crime and the conditions in which it

flourished

Henry Fielding, who’s Enquiry into the Cause of the Late Increase of Robberies, published in

1751, did so much to shape subsequent debate on the subject. As is well known, of course,

Fielding was actively promoting his position as Bow Street magistrate and trying to establish

himself at the centre of London’s criminal justice network. Habit was at the centre of Fielding’s

concept of crime: ‘Vices and Diseases, with like Physical Necessity, arise from certain Habits in

both; and to restrain and palliate the evil Consequences, is all that lies within the Reach of Art’

(Fielding, 1988a: 71). He went on to argue that ‘Vices, no more than diseases will stop … for

bad Habits are as infectious by Example, as the Plague itself by Contact’ (Fielding, 12 1988a:

77). Accordingly, the key to preventing crime was to ensure that the occasions for encountering

or transmitting vice were limited, preventing seduction into, and accumulation of bad habits

(Dodsworth, 2007).

3. Risk Management

Some of the ways through which risk of crime can be

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3.1. Risk Avoidance or Risk Removal - The first choice to be considered. The possibility of

eliminating the existence of criminal opportunity or avoiding the creation of such an opportunity

is always the best solution when additional factors are not created which prohibit the action.

Example: Removal of all cash from a location might eliminate the opportunity for a criminal

act to acquire that cash, but in most cases it would also eliminate the ability to conduct

business.

3.2. Risk Reduction - When avoiding or eliminating the criminal opportunity conflicts with the

ability to conduct business, the next step is the reduction of the opportunity and the potential loss

to the lowest level which is compatible with the business function.

Example: Only enough cash on hand for one day's operation.

3.3. Risk Spreading - Assets which remain exposed after the concepts of reduction and

avoidance have been applied are the subject of this alternative. "That is the concept of a systems

approach which limits loss by the time consumption and exposure of the perpetrator with the

probability of apprehension prior to the consummation of the crime.

Example: Perimeter lighting, barred windows and intrusion detection limit the possible loss by

reducing time available to remove assets and escape without apprehension.

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3.4. Risk Transfer - The only effective alternative remaining is to transfer those risks not

reduced to an acceptable level to someone else. The two most common methods of

accomplishing this are to insure and to raise prices to cover losses. When the first three concepts

of risk management have been applied properly, this should be a more reasonable figure and

obtainable at a lower cost than prior to the applications.

3.5. Risk Acceptance - All those risks remaining must be assumed by the business. Included

with these are deductibles which have been made a part of the insurance coverage for premium

reduction purposes. It is neither cost-effective nor practical to attempt to provide 100% protection for

any business.

4. Removal or Reducing the Risk

If it were not true that reducing opportunities helps prevent crime, no-one would bother to take

routine precautions such as locking their cars and houses, keeping their money in safe places,

counseling their children to avoid strangers, and watching the neighbors’ home when they are

away. In fact, we all take these kinds of precautions every day of our lives. These actions might

sometimes displace the risk of criminal attack to others. To avoid this and achieve more general

reductions in risks of crime, wider action to reduce opportunities must be taken by the police, by

government and by other agencies. Similar thinking guides several approaches to crime

prevention, including:

● problem-oriented policing

● defensible space architecture

● crime prevention through environmental design

● situational crime prevention.

Despite their differences, each seeks to reduce opportunities for crime for particular kinds of

targets, places, and classes of victims. Each is concerned with preventing very specific kinds of

crime. None of the four attempts to improve human character. Most important, all four seek to

block crime in practical, natural, and simple ways, at low social and economic costs. Other

methods through which risks of crime can be reduced or removed are:

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(a) Target hardening

This first principle is exactly what it says. It means making it physically more difficult to

commit the crime, such as:

Fitting better, stronger locks to your doors and windows

Replacing an ordinary entrance door with one that is certificated to the enhanced security

standard

Installing a retractable gate behind those vulnerable French doors.

Fitting a strong padlock and hasp and staple to the shed door

Using a ‘crook lock’ on an older car and fitting a locking petrol cap

Using thick laminated glass in shop windows

(b) Target Removal

This is about remembering to remove something from risk or from view. Examples include:

Removing items of value from your parked car or putting them out of sight in the boot

Putting the car in the garage

Putting things like jewellery, money and important documents into an insurance rated

fire safe or in a safety deposit box when you go on holiday

Removing items of value from view through a downstairs window

Not leaving a mobile phone on a table when ordering food and drinks at the bar

Not hanging a handbag on the back of a chair in a busy café

Not carrying your wallet in a back pocket

Growing a climbing shrub over a repeatedly graffitied wall.

(c) Removing the Means (to Commit Crime)

Criminals often need stuff to commit crime and these are some examples:

Being careful not to show others your PIN when using a credit card

Keeping passwords hidden

Chaining up the wheelie bins and ladders so they can’t be used as a climbing aid to break

into your house

Not leaving a key in a back door, especially if it has a cat-flap

Taking spare car keys with you or securing them in insurance rated safe

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Not leaving gardens tools lying around the garden

Not lighting elevations of a building that cannot be overlooked by potential witnesses

Searching passengers at airports

Blocking up the door’s letter plate and using a locking letterbox instead

(d) Reducing the Pay-Off

This is about reducing the profit the thief can make from the crime and includes

Marking your property in such a way that others will not want to purchase the item from

the thief

Not buying property you believe or suspect to be stolen

Registering your mobile phone on Immobilise

Displaying empty boxes in shop windows

Using dye alarms in cash carrying cases and dye alarm tags on clothing

(e) Access Control

Access control is about preventing the criminal gaining access to the target, which might be a

thing, a person or a building. Here are some examples:

Having a 1.8 metre fence around the garden complete with trellis and climbing prickly

shrubs and a well locked gate of equal height

Making sure you lock your doors and windows

Making sure that car doors and windows are locked

Adding an access control system to the main entrance of a block of flats

Employing a security guard and barrier at the entrance to an industrial estate

Putting up gates at the entrances to back alleys that run to the rears of houses

(f) Surveillance

Criminals would rather not have their crimes witnessed and you can deter some by:

Ensuring that the front hedge is not so high that close approaches to the front of the house

can’t be seen from the road or by the neighbours (also known as increasing Informal

Surveillance)

Employing security officers to patrol an office complex or shopping centre (also known

as increasing Formal Surveillance)

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Installing a monitored CCTV system along a high street or around the home

Establishing Neighbourhood Watch or Home Watch in your street

Training employees how to challenge strangers in their building or on the site

Not filling a shop window up with so many posters that people on the street cannot look

in.

(g) Environmental Change

Environmental change is about improving the condition and appearance of streets and open

spaces so that the area has the impression of being looked after by the local inhabitants. A built

environment that is under the control of its residents tends to suffer fewer crimes. This is

achieved by:

Gating back alleys that run to the rear of terraced homes to reduce the chance of burglary

and theft from the garden and fly-tipping

‘Greening up’ Brownfield and derelict sites

Clearing away domestic waste dumped in the street and left in people’s back gardens

using skips supplied by the local authority

Where it is appropriate increasing the amount of private space by introducing new

planting and fencing

Cleaning away graffiti within 48 hours

Refurbishing old rundown buildings

Improving the street lighting

(h) Rule Setting

This is about household and commercial discipline (habit setting) and giving clear indications to

a potential thief that certain routines are in place to thwart criminal behaviour. It might also be

the display of a sign warning people to do or not to do something. This might include:

Agreeing some routines with the family, such as the last person going out of an evening

leaves plenty of lights on and makes sure that everything is locked up

Informing visitors arriving in an office car park to report to the reception desk and to

wear a visitor’s badge during their visit.

Displaying a ‘No Cold Caller’ sign or a ‘We do not buy goods at the door’ sign on your

door or window

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Displaying signs such as ‘No Trespassers’, ‘No Access Beyond this Point’ and ‘No

Smoking’ etc

Many of our Road Signs set rules

(i) Increasing the Chances of Being Caught

This principle is similar to Surveillance in some respects, but includes measures specifically

intended to track down and catch the criminal

Using alarm tags on clothing to trigger an alarm to catch shoplifters

Using tracking software in a PC or laptop so that its new location will be covertly

signaled to a monitoring station

Using tracking devices on vehicles that can discover the vehicle’s location should it be

stolen

Using appropriate security lighting to illuminate potential thieves

Using a smoke (vapour) generating alarm to disorientate intruders who are burgling

premises, so that they might be caught inside.

Covert CCTV and police observations points set up to obtain evidence

Property marking

(j) Deflecting Offenders

This last principle is quite varied in its approaches and can include:

The use of timer switches to make your home look occupied when you’re away on

holiday

The use of cardboard cut-out uniformed policemen in shop doorways and cardboard

police cars on motorway bridges

Referring drug users to drug rehabilitation programmes in order to stop them stealing to

fund their habit

Running youth diversionary schemes during school holidays

Making certain streets ‘one-way’ for vehicles

Introducing parking restrictions

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4. Conclusion:

Henry Fielding planted the seed of crime prevention which has now grown into a tree- with its

various branches like Problem oriented policing, CPTED and Situational Crime Prevention

which have proved effective in removal or reducing the crime to a large extent.