Harnessing human-centred design in the fight against crime Everyday crime harms Europeans' quality of life — and it's increasing. Eight innovative tools tackling high-impact petty crime are now available, while a new European Security Model captures the uniquely European approach. Society © Mind Pixell, Shutterstock In our interconnected world, technology often plays a role in tackling crime. However, technology should not be viewed as a panacea, but rather a potential enabler of human-centred objectives. Such an approach can better reduce crime’s social and economic impact and prevent it from occurring in the first place. To this end, the EU-funded Cutting Crime Impact (CCI) project focused on inspiring and enabling Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and security policymakers to adopt a human-centred, evidence-based and sustainable approach to tackling high-impact petty crime. Petty crime refers to everyday offences that, while not classified as serious crimes, still significantly impact individuals and communities. For example, anti-social behaviour, theft, burglary, robbery and assault. A comprehensive set of anti-crime tools Research to understand the requirements of the six LEA partners began in 2018. Using this insight, partners were supported through a design development process involving extensive prototyping with end users and produced eight CCI tools. The focus areas were predictive policing, community policing, crime prevention through urban design and planning, as well as measuring and mitigating citizens feelings of insecurity. “I’m so very proud of what CCI has produced. Each tool is bespoke to the LEA that developed it. It addresses a specific problem of concern and functions in a way that fits the operational context of that LEA, using their language and their branding,” notes Caroline Davey, professor at the University of Salford and one of the project coordinators. Promoting security and safety without compromising human rights Human-centred design requires a certain mindset, a particular attitude — a way of thinking and working. The CCI partners received a crash course in human-centred design research and innovation and were supported through a product design process to successfully develop their tools. Partners were supported to improve their ability to research and think divergently, as well as their capability to develop, launch and promote a finished product — one that will be accepted and implemented because it meets end-users needs, is well designed and does not compromise human rights. “I believe CCI shows that effective tools and solutions addressing practical security issues can be developed and implemented with the right approach. We recognise that the human-centred approach adopted by CCI is fundamental to its success,” explains Andrew Wootton, one of the project coordinators. The University of Groningen assisted LEAs in considering ethical, social and legal aspects when developing their tools. It played an important role in the early days of the project, publishing reports and fact sheets for the four CCI domains and taking on the role of ‘critical friend’ during the design process to advise on innovation proposals. Creating a valuable infrastructure The project developed a European Security Model — a conceptual model of security in Europe based on ethical values and principles — and published 10 policy briefings on issues addressed by CCI. All CCI tools are available for download from their web portal, enabling potential new users to try them for themselves. The University of Salford will continue to promote the wider implementation of the tools produced by CCI. The team will be monitoring their uptake and impact by each partner organisation over the next five years, as well as wider adoption by LEAs across Europe. Keywords CCI, LEA, tools, security, petty crime, human-centred design, safety, Law Enforcement Agencies, European Security Model
