A qualitative examination of the implementation of optimal forager inspired crime reduction programmes in the United Kingdom
| Published date | 01 December 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557231178152 |
| Author | Eric Halford |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
A qualitative examination of the
implementation of optimal forager
inspired crime reduction programmes
in the United Kingdom
Eric Halford
Rabdan Academy, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
Certain aspects of optimal forager theory (OFT), which is drawn from ecology, have shown positive results in predicting
areas at risk of future domestic burglary offending. This led to police services developing analysis methods that embraced
OFT to underpin their deployment of resources to prevent or reduce domestic burglary. There has been limited exam-
ination, using quantitative approaches, of how individual police services have implemented such crime reduction schemes.
This study broadens this literature by qualitatively exploring OFT strategies within five police ser vices. By interviewing
participants involved in the programmes the study gathers views and perspectives of the implementations, identifying
many positive by-products of the strategies. By contrast, factors affecting the implementation and application of the the-
oretical framework are also identified. Both good and bad are discussed in the context of their practical implications for
police services globally looking to implement crime reduction plans that embrace OFT.
Keywords
Optimal forager, crime prevention, policing, police, crime
Submitted 14 Sep 2022, accepted 10 May 2023
Introduction
The use of crime mapping within policing has a long history
that dates back to the early 1900s when ‘pin mapping’was
used to visualise the geographical distribution of crime
locations to inform patrol deployments (Rennison, 2019).
Since that time, criminological research and specifically
that which supports theories of crime pattern theory
(CPT), rational choice theory (RCT) and routine activity
theory (RAT) have evolved to advance the field.
These theories have developed mature theoretical frame-
works that advocate a range of situational approaches to
crime prevention and have been adopted and incorporated
into contemporary policing tactics. For example, RAT
developed the concept of capable guardianship, which
was incorporated into policing models such as the
problem analysis triangle (Clarke and Eck, 2003).
Capable guardianship is a key tactic for crime prevention
and reduction strategies because it enables law enforcement
agencies to target the deployment of resources, such as
police officers in high-visibility uniforms, in areas where
crime concentrates, thus deterring potentially motivated
criminals who are active in the area from committing a
crime (Felson, 1986).
Academics and practitioners alike have continued to use
the scientific method to develop new spatial theories of
crime to transition from a reactive model of analysis that
predominately identifies areas where crime has already
occurred, to a predictive one. Predictive models aim to iden-
tify where crime is likely to occur in the future, and this has
coined the term ‘predictive policing’(Beck, 2014). This
Corresponding author:
Eric Halford, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Email: ehalford@ra.ac.ae
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(4) 389–406
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557231178152
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change in perspective has resulted in the application of
more contemporary theories that are born outside traditional
spheres of criminological study, including the use of an epi-
demiological theory that has been used to develop the near
repeat pattern (NRP) of victimisation (Townsley et al.,
2003).
The most recent crossover theory originates from
ecology. Optimal foraging theory (OFT) focuses on a
study of the behaviour of foraging organisms. In the
context of policing, OFT has been considered in a more
refined context. As such, although OFT incorporates a
variety of principles, its adoption within policing focuses
primarily on that which relates to the foraging behaviour
of predatory animals. Specifically, the theory postulates
that predatory animals search for prey in patches, making
a cost–benefit analysis of risk vs energy expenditure vs
reward, to identify geographical areas within which to
forage (SD Johnson and Bowers, 2004).
Observations have enabled ecologists to make predic-
tions regarding the movements of foraging animals, and
research on domestic burglary offending has shown that
applying the principles can also accurately identify areas
at heightened risk of targeting by offenders. Such research
has focused on quantitative methodologies with success
measured against historical crime records.
As a result, in the United Kingdom (UK) as many as nine
police services began using methodologies inspired by OFT
to underpin their crime analysis mapping for offences of
domestic burglary. Mapping is then used to inform tactical
decision-making regarding the deployment of police
resources to increase the capable guardianship presence in
areas at risk of future targeting. A few studies have exam-
ined the success of such implementations in a silo, within
individual police services (Addis, 2012; Fielding and
Jones, 2012), suggesting it does have a positive impact on
recorded crime levels for domestic burglary. However,
there is still no research that has examined the broader
implementation among the many police services that intro-
duced such programmes and this study is the first to
examine this in detail to significantly broaden the knowl-
edge in this area of research.
Literature review
First, it is important to provide an outline of the literature
that relates to spatial theories of crime, including RAT
(Cohen and Felson, 1979), RCT (Cornish and Clarke,
1987) and CPT (Brantingham and Brantingham, 1991) to
enable an understanding of how crime control strategies
have evolved, and why they are essential to the success of
the programmes examined in this study. To support
further this, we then outline key literature that relates to
NRP, which has emerged as a new methodology for
predicting the future place and victims of burglary
crime, and is intrinsically linked to the criminological
research on OFT. Finally, we provide an overview of
the literature that relates to OFT. Outlining the literature
in this manner enables a strong understanding that will
enhance the appreciation of the areas discussed later in
this article.
Early spatial theories of crime
Research examining how crime and space interact has identi-
fied that offences most commonly occur along pathways and
at nodes where people routinely interact as they go about their
‘routine activities’(Brantingham and Brantingham, 1991;
Cohen and Felson, 1979). This theory is commonly known
as routine activity theory (RAT). Underpinning RAT is the
RCT, which is built upon the principle that motivated offen-
ders are rational actors, and as such, they make calculated
decisions about whether or not to commit an offence
(Felson, 1986). It is postulated that offenders make such deci-
sions based on an assessment of risk and reward. In the
context of criminal behaviour, this rational choice balances
the likelihood of obtaining the desired objective, for
example, obtaining stolen property against the likelihood of
apprehension by the police, and subsequent punishment,
such as imprisonment.
By simultaneously incorporating these two theories
(RAT and RCT) situational crime prevention (SCP)
theory was developed. SCP focuses on intervening at the
locations where crimes occur to prevent and reduce them
(Clarke, 1997). RAT is key to achieving this because it out-
lines that for a crime to occur three factors need to exist.
First, two specific things need to be present, a motivated
offender and a target or victim. The third factor is the
absence of a capable guardian (Cohen and Felson, 1979)
who can intervene and potentially prevent the crime from
occurring. Early research by Cohen and Felson (1979)
showed that the increased presence of a capable guardian
does reduce levels of crime. As such, SCP approaches to
crime control are now widely used by the police and all
rely heavily on the concept of the capable guardian to
achieve their objectives.
A capable guardian is someone whose presence is said to
deter a motivated offender who encounters a suitable target
during their routine activities from committing an offence
(Reynald, 2011). Such guardians have been defined as
‘the physical or symbolic presence of an individual (or
group of individuals) that acts (either intentionally or unin-
tentionally) to deter a potential criminal event’(Hollis-Peel
et al., 2011: 5). Historically there have been several distinct
subtypes of guardians within the literature referred to as
handlers (those that can control or monitor offenders), man-
agers (those that control responses in geographic areas) and
390 International Journal of Police Science & Management 25(4)
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