Public Regulation of Private Crime Prevention

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Abstract
Whom do we blame for causing crime? Increasingly, Americans blame the management of shopping malls, restaurants, parking facilities, and other quasi-public spaces on private property where many predatory crimes occur. This trend has fed both litigation and legislation regulating private security measures in those locations. The two main trends require the disclosure of information on prior crimes and the provision of specific crime prevention strategies. Despite the measurement problems in reporting place-specific crime rates, this practice seems likely to grow. So do the legal restrictions on the physical design of automatic teller machines, the number of clerks on duty in stores, and the number of security guards on duty. Whether these requirements will actually reduce, or even increase, crime remains to be seen. An agency like the Food and Drug Administration is needed to supervise the testing of crime prevention measures to ensure that they are safe and effective.

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