Situational Crime Prevention: A Case Study

According to Schneider (2014), “Clarke’s definitions of situational crime prevention are: opportunity-reducing measures that are directed at highly specific forms of crime; involve the management, design, or manipulation of the immediate environment in as systematic and permanent a way as possible; and make crime more difficult and risky, or less rewarding and excusable as judged by a wide range of offenders (p.56).”
Schneider & Kitchen (2007), the essential element of situational crime prevention is the notion of opportunity, tempered by concrete strategies intended to reduce, modify or redirect the roles that temptation plays as a part of opportunity (p.27). Clarke’s conception of opportunity, has five primary factors: risk (how likelihood …show more content…
Every crime (including shoplifting/store theft) involves three main factors: a likely offender, a suitable target, and lack of a guardian. Using Clark’s five primary factors of his conception of opportunity, we can address the problems that the Starbucks (a retail coffee shop business), located at 11029 Causeway Boulevard, Riverview, FL 33578, could face by becoming a vulnerable establishment of shoplifting or store theft. The Starbucks coffee shop is located in a large commercial area surround by other businesses. This Starbucks has a wide open café structural design concept inside with round tables and chairs (so that customers can sit, relax and enjoy the merchandise they purchase). The merchandise display design is open so that customers can help themselves to the products they sell (coffee by the bag, individual small coffee bags, coffee pots, mugs, soda, water, prepacked cakes and candy). The over the counter merchandise has bar codes (not electronic) in order for them to be scanned when purchased. This Starbucks is very busy most of the time and its employees (that are behind the counter) are mainly concentrated in preparing hot coffee, cold coffee, other types of