Hi, I'm Mrs. Allchin, and I'm going to be taking you through this Citizenship lesson.

I'll be explaining all of the information that you need, and I'll be pausing and telling you when you need to complete tasks.

Hope you enjoy the lesson.

This lesson is called "Are crime prevention strategies working in the UK?" And it's taken from the unit of work "What can we do to reduce crime?" By the end of this lesson, you will be able to evaluate whether crime prevention strategies in the UK are working.

So these are the keywords we're going to be looking at today.

So strategy, and this is a plan or approach designed to achieve a specific goal or solve a problem.

Intervention, which is an action or set of actions aimed at changing a situation, often to improve it or prevent harm.

Situational, which is relating to or dependent on a specific setting, environment, or set of circumstances.

And deterrence, something that discourages people from committing crimes by making them fear the punishment or consequences.

This lesson, we're going to be looking at does education reduce crime? Does situational crime prevention reduce crime? And do deterrents reduce crime? So we're going to look at some different things and consider their effectiveness.

And we're going to start off by looking at does education reduce crime? So education about laws and consequence is a crime prevention strategy.

By educating people about the consequences of breaking the law, it is hoped that crime will be reduced because people will better understand what could happen.

Crime education can take place at school, in the workplace, through the media, and via local and national campaigns.

The police educate people about crime and consequence as a crime reduction strategy.

So it's a key thing that the police do.

This can take place in school via people such as Safer School Police Officers.

You might have one of these in your school.

These are police officers who are attached to schools and work closely with students and sometimes their families to educate them about crime.

It also aims to improve relationships between young people and the police, which is really positive.

Laura's saying, "Have the police always worked in schools?" And Alex is saying, "No, it's fairly recent.

So this began in 2002 through the Safer Schools Partnership." So it hasn't always existed.

It's been more in modern times.

So let's have a quick check.

Safer Schools Police Officers aim to improve relationships between who? Is it teachers and families, young people and the police, or young people and the media? And it's B, young people and the police.

Intervention 22 is another education-based strategy.

So when a person has been named in a crime report but it's not in the public interest to arrest them, and that might be because of their age, that might be because of the type of crime, they are given an Intervention 22 instead.

And this means that the person would receive input from a police officer, with the aim of this being to educate them and hopefully reduce the chances of them getting involved in crime in the future.

So it's a really clear strategy to try and reduce them committing crime in the future.

And Alex is telling us, "This is recorded as 'Outcome 22 - diversionary, educational, or intervention activity, resulting from the crime report, has been undertaken and it is not in the public interest to take any further action.

'" So this is the wording that's used to record when an Outcome 22 or an Intervention 22 has taken place so that that's the intervention and then that is the outcome.

So this is a really clear strategy to, rather than criminalise some people, to give them that education to reduce crime in the future.

So let's have a quick check.

When might an Intervention 22 be used instead of arresting a person? What are the missing words? When it's not in the, something, to arrest them.

Pause while you have a go.

So it's used when it's not in the public's interest to arrest them.

Teaching Citizenship is another educational tool that can support crime reduction.

Citizenship was introduced as a National Curriculum subject in 2002.

And learning about the law is a really key part of the Citizenship National Curriculum.

It's what you're doing right now.

And one of its core aims is, students should develop a sound knowledge and understanding of the role of law and the justice system in our society and how laws are shaped and enforced with the hope that the more educated young people are about the law and justice, hopefully the more likely this will be to ensure they have positive behaviours.

So Aisha's saying, "Are these strategies effective?" And Sam is saying, "It's really hard to know because education inputs like Intervention 22, for example, are only a few years old.

They haven't been taking place for very long, so therefore there isn't really any long-term data.

But hopefully they will have a positive impact as they educate about consequence." And Jacob is saying, "True, but some people also worry that by having Safer School Police Officers in place, minor incidents could end up being reported as crimes via over-policing.

So views are mixed." So these are quite relatively new strategies.

Some people can see their effectiveness.

Some people do have a few reservations.

So Laura is saying, "Citizenship has taught me about my rights." And Alex is saying, "It's also taught me about my responsibilities as a citizen." Huddersfield University actually carried out research and discovered that students who are taught about the law via Citizenship education have a better understanding of their role within fostering safer communities.

And Ofsted have also found that schools implementing structured Citizenship education saw improved behaviour with reductions in instances of bullying and vandalism.

So there is some evidence that suggests that Citizenship taught in schools can have a positive impact on behaviour.

So what you'd hope then to see is that positive behaviour going back out into the community and citizens less likely to commit crime.

So let's have a quick check.

It is suggested that Citizenship and other crime-based education develops a person's what? Pause while you have a go.

And it's C, their sense of responsibility.

So for task A, I want you to consider do you agree or disagree with the statement, "Education is the best way to reduce crime"? Now, this is a question that's going to really develop your critical thinking.

There's no right or wrong answer.

But what you do need to do is answer the question showing that you've considered both sides of the argument and the knowledge that we've looked at so far this lesson.

Alex is reminding you to think about the positive impact that education can have, but also its limitations.

In your answer, you could talk about Safer School Police Officers, Intervention 22, and Citizenship education.

Pause while you complete this task.

So, your argument could have included: Education is the best way to reduce crime because Citizenship teaches pupils about the law and how it is enforced, which helps them to understand the legal system.

It also teaches pupils about their rights and responsibilities.

Safer School Police Officers and officers delivering Intervention 22 can also educate citizens about the potential consequences of committing a crime and support them in making more responsible decisions in the hopes they won't offend in the future.

So that could have been your agree argument.

However, you might have disagreed, and your argument might have included: However, some people might disagree because it's hard to track the long-term impact of education on future crime.

It is also difficult to know which education strategy's having the most impact as for some people, Citizenship might have the biggest impact, whereas for others, it may be the input of Safer School Police Officers.

Also, Intervention 22 has not been implemented for long enough to be able to gather long-term data.

Therefore, it is difficult to say whether they are successful at reducing crime at the moment.

Some people also worry that having police officers in school could lead to over-policing where minor incidents are treated as crimes.

So lots of different things there that you could have put in your argument.

We're now going to look at whether or not situational crime prevention reduces crime.

So, this might be something that you've not heard of before, but it's actually something that is all around you, and if you were to look out of the window now, you'd see it.

You'd probably even see it around your house, around your school, because situational crime prevention is a strategy that aims to reduce crime by altering situations to make criminal activity more difficult.

By making crimes harder to commit, more risky, and with less chance of success and reward, it is hoped that crime will be reduced.

Situational crime prevention can be seen in and around property and within the community.

So let's have a look at some examples.

So examples of situational crime prevention strategies within the community, so that's sort of around your local areas, could include streetlights, something that you see all the time that you probably don't even consider.

They improve visibility, which makes it easier for a criminal to be seen, and therefore the chance of being caught is more likely.

CCTV and other surveillance.

They capture footage, meaning evidence of criminal activity is more likely, and therefore the chance of being prosecuted is more likely.

So streetlights, CCTV, and other surveillance tend to or hope to reduce crime because it makes it more likely somebody could be caught committing a crime.

There have been specific studies and projects that have examined how effective these strategies are at reducing crime.

So Aisha's saying, "Can streetlights actually reduce crime?" And Jacob's saying, "Yes, it's been proven.

So the Dudley Project saw crime reduced by 41% when street lighting was improved in the Dudley area." So it's been proven to have a really, really positive impact.

And what about CCTV? And again, this also works.

The College of Policing ran a study and found the reductions can be as much as 51%.

So these examples of situational crime prevention strategies have been proven to work.

So let's have a quick check.

Which of the following is not a community-based situational crime prevention strategy? It's a little bit of a mouthful there, so I'll pause while you have a go at reading and seeing which one you think is the correct answer.

And it's C, Citizenship lessons.

Still a strategy, but not a situational one.

Situational crime prevention strategies can also be used to tackle speeding offences, which the College of Policing state as one of the most common criminal offences carried out in the UK.

That can obviously have devastating impacts as well.

So things like speed bumps, speed cameras, and road width restrictions, that's where you might have sort of humps and combs in the road so that people have to slow down because it's getting narrower, they all aim to reduce speed, either by catching out people who speed, so that would be things like speed cameras, or by making speeding difficult, e.

g.

by having speed bumps or a narrow road.

People will naturally slow down as they approach a speed bump 'cause if not, it can actually really damage their car as well.

So they are examples of situational crime strategies to try and reduce speeding.

And Sam's saying, "Do strategies to reduce speed also reduce crime?" And Aisha's saying, "Well, it's difficult to say as these techniques are specific to a certain stretch of road, it's impossible to tell if the reduction in speed is maintained." So somebody might reduce their speed as they're approaching a speed camera.

Unfortunately, what we don't know is whether they continue to reduce their speed once they've passed that camera.

So it is a little bit tricky to evaluate.

So Sam's saying, "Ah, so they're ineffective then." And Aisha's saying, "Well, no.

They do enforce legal limits in high pedestrian areas, reducing the number of victims of crime." So you often tend to get things like speed bumps and speed cameras in places where there's been accidents in the past or near to schools.

So we do at least know that it will reduce victims of crime in those areas.

So, for a quick check, identify one situational crime prevention strategy used to prevent speeding offences.

So you might have said speed bumps, speed cameras, or road width restrictions.

Situational crime prevention strategies can also be seen around property.

So we've looked at out and about in the community, now we're thinking about property.

So examples include things like window bars, which increase security, making it much more difficult for a criminal to actually gain access to property.

Warning stickers, and they might tell potential criminals that the home is alarmed or has a large pet dog, and this can make crime less appealing.

So you might see a sticker with a huge picture of a big dog that people might perceive to be vicious, and that might make someone think, "Ooh, gosh, I'm not gonna go into that house." So they can be effective too.

And doorbell cameras catch footage of anyone coming onto your property.

And again, that's going to make crime less appealing because there's more chance that there'll be evidence, which means you're more likely to get caught if you're prosecuted.

There is lots of evidence that highlights how situational crime strategies used in and around the home can reduce crime.

So Secured by Design is an official police security initiative that aims to improve the security of buildings and also provides a police-approved accreditation scheme for home protection products.

And homes that are secured to this standard have been shown to have 63% less burglaries than homes not secured to this standard.

So it clearly does act as a deterrent.

So let's have quick check.

True or false? There is no evidence that situational crime strategies used in and around the home reduce crime.

So pause, have a think which one it might be, and try and think why as well.

It's false.

And why? Because homes secured to a Secured by Design standard have been shown to have 63% less burglaries than homes not secured to this standard.

So for task B, I'd like you to complete a table to explain how each crime prevention strategy reduces crime.

So you might want to organise your work like this.

So pause while you have a go at this task.

So these are some of the things that you might have included in your table.

Streetlights improve visibility, making it easier for a criminal to be seen and caught.

CCTV, similar.

Capturing footage, meaning evidence of criminal activity is more likely.

Speed bumps force people to slow down, which reduces speeding and victims of crime.

Window bars increase security, making it more difficult for a criminal to gain access to property.

Warning stickers tell potential criminals that the home is alarmed or protected, making crime less appealing.

And doorbell cameras catch footage of anyone coming onto your property, making crime less appealing.

So all really great examples there of situational crime prevention strategies.

We're now going to look at whether or not deterrents reduce crime.

So, deterrents within crime reduction are the factors that put criminals off committing a crime.

So to deter someone means you're putting someone off.

And they do that due to the likelihood they will get caught and the punishment they will receive.

So it's almost that fear of committing the crime and getting caught.

So by increasing the certainty of punishment, it's hoped that citizens will be put off committing crime.

And deterrence is a feature of UK sentencing guidelines, with crimes that cause the most harm and where the offender is to blame receiving the harshest sentences.

So an example of deterrence being used to reduce crime can be seen in sentencing for weapon-related crimes.

And in England and Wales, the Criminal Justice and Courts Act in 2015 introduced a "two strikes" rule.

And this meant adults caught carrying a knife more than once had to be given at least a six-month prison sentence, and 16- to 17-year-olds at least a four-month sentence.

So that's making sentencing tougher.

It's increasing that sentence to try and deter people from carrying weapons, which we know can cause huge harm.

According to Government Knife and Offensive Weapon Sentencing Statistics, there has also been a 6% increase in the average sentence length of people being found in possession of a weapon in the past 10 years.

In September 2023, the average immediate custody sentence was 7.

6 months.

So it's showing that within the range of a sentence that a judge is able to give through sentencing guidelines, the sentences for knives and offensive weapons is going up.

So that's showing that deterrence is being used to try and prevent people committing this crime.

So true or false? Average sentencing lengths for people in possession of a weapon have gone up.

So pause.

Think, "Is that true, false?" And try and tell me why.

It's true.

Why? There has been a 6% increase in the average sentence length of people being found in possession of a weapon in the past 10 years.

So Aisha's saying, "Do these deterrents work?" And Sam's saying, "The government statistics show a slight increase year on year of repeat offences, but this might also be as a result of a police focus on this crime type, leading to more arrests." So if this is a policing priority, there's going to be lots more investigative work going into this area.

So it's difficult to see if an increase is because the deterrents aren't working or just because it's actually a really high police priority.

Jacob is saying, "Average custodial sentences for serious knife injuries increased by roughly 15% over the past decade.

And this potentially keeps dangerous offenders off the street and protects citizens." So it shows that that deterrence is there.

Heavily publicising maximum penalties for certain crimes has also been used as a deterrence strategy.

So Keep Britain Tidy, which is an organisation that hopes to keep Britain tidy and stop things like fly tipping and other things that ruin the environment, created a "We are Watching You" campaign.

And this involved placing posters in high fly tipping areas that clearly highlighted the maximum sentences available for this crime type.

So fly tipping, you might have seen this, it's when people just drive out somewhere and just dump a load of rubbish because they don't want to either take it to the skip or they don't want to pay for it to be removed.

And it's a real, real problem for the environment.

And Aisha's saying, "Did this deterrent work?" And, "Yes it did.

Some areas saw a 40% decrease in fly tipping." So perhaps having that reminder about what could happen in the eyes of the law if caught fly tipping might have acted as a deterrent.

So, do deterrents reduce crime? So let's have a check.

What did the Keep Britain Tidy campaign "We are Watching You" publicise to try and deter fly tipping? Pause while you have a go.

So they publicised the maximum sentence available.

Having a criminal record can also make it difficult to secure certain jobs or travel to certain countries.

For example, people who have a violent conviction will be highly unlikely to secure employment working with vulnerable people.

And that includes children, old people, people with certain disabilities.

Countries such as the USA, Canada, and Australia have strict travel restrictions for people with a criminal record.

And we know that these are also really popular countries that people like to travel to.

So Aisha's saying, "Does this act as a deterrent?" And Sam says, "There has been some small case studies that suggest it does, but this is mainly true of young people who want to travel and have high job aspirations, not everyone." And that kind of makes sense, doesn't it? This could act as a real deterrent for people that really want to go backpacking around Australia.

It might be less of a deterrent for other people.

So let's have a check.

Which group are most likely to be deterred by travel restrictions and employment issues as a result of a criminal record? Pause and have a go.

And it's young people who are aspirational and want to travel.

So for task C, I want you to design a leaflet that aims to deter crime, highlighting crime prevention strategies we've discussed and their effectiveness.

You can either design your leaflet focused on a specific type of crime or create more of a general leaflet addressing crime overall.

You might have designed a leaflet that looks something like this.

So you might have given a catchy title like "Crime Prevention: knowledge + safety = a safer future.

Education's a key crime prevention strategy." And this leaflet has looked at Citizenship, learning about the law and crime, Safer School Police Officers, and Intervention 22.

And so it's really focused on education.

And it says: Education strategies help young people make better choices and understand the law and crime.

However, they can be costly, may not reach all at-risk youth, and sometimes face resistance from pupils or parents.

So this is a leaflet that could be focused on education.

You might have done it about situational prevention strategies, and you might have put something like: Reduce crime by altering situations, e.

g.

street lighting, CCTV, speed bumps, and doorbell cameras.

Research shows these approaches can be effective, like the Dudley Project, where improved street lighting reduced crime by 41%.

However, they can be costly, raise privacy concerns, and may just shift crime to other areas.

You might have looked at deterrents and said something like: Deterrents deter criminals by increasing the likelihood of capture and punishment, e.

g.

by increasing sentences.

Deterrents like the 15% increase in custodial sentences for serious knife injuries can help keep offenders off the streets and protect citizens.

However, government statistics show a slight rise in repeat offences, possibly due to more focused policing and higher arrest rates.

So in summary for whether crime prevention strategies are working in the UK, there are various strategies in which the UK aims to reduce crime.

All have some degree of success, but some are easier to evaluate than others.

Education-focused strategies aim to make people consider the impact of their actions and promote responsibility.

Situational crime prevention strategies aim to make crime more difficult to commit and reduce the potential rewards of criminal behaviour.

And finally, deterrence strategies aim to turn people off committing crime due to the punishment they could receive.

Well done for all your hard work this lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it and that you come back for some more Citizenship lessons in the future.