Crime represents a classic example of a wicked problem in modern society. Unlike tame problems with clear solutions, crime embodies all the characteristics that make wicked problems so challenging to address: complexity, interconnectedness, no definitive solution, and competing stakeholder perspectives.
The Wicked Nature of Crime
Crime is inherently complex and multifaceted, with no clear definition that satisfies all stakeholders. What constitutes criminal behavior varies across cultures, jurisdictions, and time periods. Crime problems are deeply interconnected with other social issues including poverty, education, mental health, substance abuse, and economic inequality.
Perhaps most significantly, there is no “stopping rule” for crime problems – no point at which we can declare the problem solved. Crime evolves constantly, adapting to new technologies, social conditions, and prevention strategies.
Risk Terrain Modeling: A Spatial Approach to Crime Analysis
Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM) offers a promising approach to addressing the wicked problem of crime by focusing on the environmental factors that create opportunities for criminal behavior. Rather than simply reacting to crime after it occurs, RTM helps identify the underlying spatial dynamics that contribute to crime risk.
RTM works by analyzing the physical features of an environment that correlate with criminal activity. These might include abandoned buildings, poor lighting, proximity to certain businesses, or other environmental factors. By identifying these risk factors, RTM creates a spatial risk map that highlights areas where crime is more likely to occur.
The power of RTM lies in its ability to move beyond symptom treatment to address root causes. Instead of simply increasing police presence in high-crime areas, RTM allows communities to identify and modify the environmental factors that create crime opportunities in the first place.
From Analysis to Action: The DICE™ Process
While RTM provides valuable insights into the spatial dynamics of crime, addressing wicked problems requires collaborative action. This is where DICE™ becomes essential:
- DICE™ uses RTM to diagnose crime patterns and identify settings that attract criminal behavior, providing an evidence-based foundation for intervention. This diagnosis helps stakeholders understand why crimes cluster at some places and not others.
- DICE™ emphasizes involving diverse stakeholders from law enforcement, community organizations, businesses, and residents. This multi-perspective approach is crucial for addressing wicked problems, as it brings together different forms of expertise and builds community buy-in.
- Rather than siloed efforts, DICE™ promotes collaborative problem-solving where stakeholders work together to develop interventions targeting the identified risk factors. This might include physical improvements to the environment, changes in business practices, community programming, or targeted law enforcement strategies.
- The process includes ongoing evaluation to assess the effectiveness of interventions and make necessary adjustments. This adaptive approach is essential for wicked problems, which require continuous learning and refinement.
Addressing the Wickedness of Crime
DICE™ helps address several key aspects of crime’s wickedness:
- It acknowledges complexity by focusing on multiple environmental factors rather than seeking simple solutions
- It promotes systems thinking by considering how physical environments interact with social factors
- It brings together diverse stakeholders with different perspectives and resources
- It enables adaptive strategies through ongoing evaluation and refinement
DICE™ serves as the backbone of a comprehensive public safety program (or building a public safety collaborative) that mobilizes existing local resources to share the burden of crime prevention. No single resource or stakeholder can adequately address all elements of criminal behavior. By empowering multiple community organizations to become co-producers of public safety, DICE™ creates strategies tailored to local problems and contexts.
The DICE™ approach has proven effective in multiple jurisdictions, with documented reductions in various crime types ranging from 22% to 63%. These results were achieved not through increased enforcement actions against people, but through collaborative place-based interventions that made environments less conducive to criminal activity.
While no approach can completely “solve” the wicked problem of crime, DICE™ provides a framework for making meaningful progress by identifying environmental factors that contribute to crime risk and bringing together diverse stakeholders to address these factors collaboratively.
Want to know more about creating risk models in RTMDx, DICE™, or how you can organize your community in ActionHub? Contact us!