An Examination of Situational Crime Prevention Strategies Across Convenience Stores and Fast-Food Restaurants

Abstract

Although the efficacy of situational crime prevention (SCP) strategies on convenience store safety has received considerable attention, the security of fast-food restaurants has been virtually ignored. This study was based on a population of convenience stores (n = 295) and fast-food restaurants (n = 321) in Charlotte, North Carolina. The study examined whether the crime control strategies commonly recommended to the convenience store industry were effective at reducing robbery in the fastfood industry. Relatedly, the study examined whether target-hardening strategies have similar effects on robbery prevalence rates across the two types of businesses. In general, the article found that many target-hardening strategies derived from the literature failed to impact robbery rates for either type of establishment. For those factors that did emerge as statistically significant predictors of robbery, the preventative effects generally appeared in one type of establishment or the other, but not in both. These findings suggest that effective SCP strategies are truly situation specific and not "one size fits all."Keywords situational crime prevention, convenience store, fast-food restaurantIn 2007, there were 146,294 convenience stores in the United States, representing an increase of nearly 240% across the past three decades. Industry records for 2006 revealed convenience stores generated more than US$568 billion in annual sales, the

Fast Food Restaurants and Convenience Stores: Using Sales Volume to Explain Crime Patterns in Seattle

“…With regard to the former, many studies have found that convenience stores attract armed robbers who are looking to rob a cashier for the money in the register (D’Alessio & StolzenBerg, 1990; Duffala, 1976; Exum, Kuhns, Koch, & Johnson, 2010). These studies have identified which types of stores pose the highest risk of victimization based on store accessibility and contextual factors so that crime prevention measures can be implemented.…”

An evaluation of bylaw and policy changes on pharmacy robberies in British Columbia

“…Informed by rational choice theory, SCP considers offenders as rational actors, comparing the costs and benefits of any particular criminal opportunity (Feeney 1986;Clarke 1997). Several evaluation and empirical studies have considered situational crime prevention strategies for convenience stores (Amandus et al 1995;Hendricks et al 1999;Exum et al 2010), liquor stores (Casteel et al 2004), and fast-food restaurants compared to convenience stores (Exum et al 2010) and found a reduction in associated crime rates.…”

An evaluation of bylaw and policy changes on pharmacy robberies in British Columbia

“…Certain dispositional theories are best suited to study the motivations of offenders, as these theories focus on the psychological, biological, and sociological antecedents of criminal behaviour (Clarke, 1980). Situational theories are particularly appropriate for the study of crime prevention measures for commercial businesses, as situational crime prevention measures may be applied with a broad scope on the macro level, while utilizing crime-specific measures on a micro scale (Exum, Kuhns, Koch, & Johnson, 2010).…”