Session 5 - Security and resilience in rural areas
From Vania Ceccato
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Chair: Prof. Richard Yarwood, University of Plymouth, UK
Is crime prevention reinforcing the divide or bridging the gap between urban and rural areas?
Elizabeth Johnston, EFUS-European Forum for Urban Security, France, Email: johnston@efus.eu
To this day, criminology and crime prevention policies have been almost exclusively focused on urban areas, as if intrinsically linked. Such a divide between urban and rural not only fuels polarization within society but can also be questioned in its relevance, as urban and rural areas evolve. Time to ask ourselves whether our crime prevention strategies are sufficiently inclusive to concern all segments of population, regardless of where they live and work. What kind of cooperation between cities, and surrounding suburban and rural areas could better address issues of security forged by increasing mobility, rapidly changing lifestyles and the recognition of interdependence between cities and rural areas? In this presentation, I draw from the EFUS experience working with partnerships all over Europe.
Horizon Scanning Rural Crime in the UK during COVID-19
Speaker: Kreseda Smith, Harper Adams University, UK
Email: kresedasmith@harper-adams.ac.uk
Despite varying discussions about the impact of rural crime in the UK, there is yet to be a concerted effort at tackling this issue in a coordinated way across police forces. This has been starkly illustrated by the affect the national lockdown has had on rural crime, and particularly OCG activity in rural communities. This paper provides a horizon scan of the changing rural crime threats in the UK evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic using a cone of plausibility approach to strategic forecasting, and considers how rural communities, police and other key rural stakeholders should be approaching crime prevention, community resilience, and governance in these extraordinary times and for the new reality it brings. This paper illustrates that OCGs are true criminal entrepreneurs, taking advantage of the world around them to fuel their activities, leaving crime prevention and policing slow to react in the wake of their impact. By tracking these shifting issues, this paper contributes to the foresight research approach to the latest evolution of rural crime in the UK.
Towards a Proactive Assessment of School Safety and Preparedness – A Case Study in Small-Town America
Speaker: Shawn K. Smith, Radford University, USA, Email: ssmith479@radford.edu
Mass shootings, and especially those occurring in educational settings, have been a growing concern for criminologists and criminal justice practitioners in the U.S. dating back to the latter 20th century. Tragic events such as the shootings Columbine High, Sandy Hook Elementary, Umpqua Community College, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High reveal an unsettling truth: that there is great risk for gun-related violence in our nation’s schools. In an effort to drive discourse and action on this important issue in a more proactive direction, Radford City Public Schools (Radford, Virginia, USA) partnered with the local police department and Radford University to perform a district-wide CPTED and school safety assessment. The initial site analysis, Belle Heth Elementary, will be the focus of this presentation.
Is crime prevention reinforcing the divide or bridging the gap between urban and rural areas?
Elizabeth Johnston, EFUS-European Forum for Urban Security, France, Email: johnston@efus.eu
To this day, criminology and crime prevention policies have been almost exclusively focused on urban areas, as if intrinsically linked. Such a divide between urban and rural not only fuels polarization within society but can also be questioned in its relevance, as urban and rural areas evolve. Time to ask ourselves whether our crime prevention strategies are sufficiently inclusive to concern all segments of population, regardless of where they live and work. What kind of cooperation between cities, and surrounding suburban and rural areas could better address issues of security forged by increasing mobility, rapidly changing lifestyles and the recognition of interdependence between cities and rural areas? In this presentation, I draw from the EFUS experience working with partnerships all over Europe.
Horizon Scanning Rural Crime in the UK during COVID-19
Speaker: Kreseda Smith, Harper Adams University, UK
Email: kresedasmith@harper-adams.ac.uk
Despite varying discussions about the impact of rural crime in the UK, there is yet to be a concerted effort at tackling this issue in a coordinated way across police forces. This has been starkly illustrated by the affect the national lockdown has had on rural crime, and particularly OCG activity in rural communities. This paper provides a horizon scan of the changing rural crime threats in the UK evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic using a cone of plausibility approach to strategic forecasting, and considers how rural communities, police and other key rural stakeholders should be approaching crime prevention, community resilience, and governance in these extraordinary times and for the new reality it brings. This paper illustrates that OCGs are true criminal entrepreneurs, taking advantage of the world around them to fuel their activities, leaving crime prevention and policing slow to react in the wake of their impact. By tracking these shifting issues, this paper contributes to the foresight research approach to the latest evolution of rural crime in the UK.
Towards a Proactive Assessment of School Safety and Preparedness – A Case Study in Small-Town America
Speaker: Shawn K. Smith, Radford University, USA, Email: ssmith479@radford.edu
Mass shootings, and especially those occurring in educational settings, have been a growing concern for criminologists and criminal justice practitioners in the U.S. dating back to the latter 20th century. Tragic events such as the shootings Columbine High, Sandy Hook Elementary, Umpqua Community College, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High reveal an unsettling truth: that there is great risk for gun-related violence in our nation’s schools. In an effort to drive discourse and action on this important issue in a more proactive direction, Radford City Public Schools (Radford, Virginia, USA) partnered with the local police department and Radford University to perform a district-wide CPTED and school safety assessment. The initial site analysis, Belle Heth Elementary, will be the focus of this presentation.
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