A Place-Based Approach to Sustainable Crime Reduction
As more UK police forces adopt the Clear, Hold, Build framework for tackling serious and organised crime, leaders are discovering both its potential and its challenges. This article explores how place-based analytics and structured community engagement can strengthen CHB implementations, and how modern technology can help manage these complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
The success of Clear, Hold, Build initiatives hinges on precise targeting, sustained effort, and effective partnership working. While CHB implementations typically begin by identifying geographically-based Organised Crime Groups (OCGs), understanding the places these groups exploit – and why they exploit them – is crucial for lasting change. This is where Risk Terrain Modelling (RTM) becomes particularly valuable.
Recent research demonstrates RTM’s potential value in understanding and diagnosing organised crime patterns. Of particular relevance to UK forces, RTM has shown promise in identifying locations vulnerable to cuckooing – where drug dealers take over the homes of vulnerable people to establish county lines operations. Research has identified specific risk factors that make properties more susceptible to cuckooing, including proximity to transport hubs, areas of high deprivation, and locations with concentrations of vulnerable residents. This environmental understanding is particularly valuable during the Clear phase of CHB operations.
Studies in Italy have similarly shown how RTM can diagnose organised crime homicides by analysing environmental risk factors and territorial control dynamics. This approach identified specific locations where criminal groups were likely to commit violence to maintain their influence. When combined with cuckooing risk analysis, forces can better understand both the operational bases and likely areas of conflict in county lines operations.
During the Clear phase, RTM complements existing analytical approaches by adding environmental context to traditional intelligence products. Beyond identifying where OCGs operate, RTM can reveal the socio-ecological risk factors that make certain neighbourhoods vulnerable to both OCG recruitment and specific crime types like cuckooing. When combined with hotspot analysis and harm indices, this layered analytical approach provides deeper insights into both the immediate operational environment and the underlying conditions that enable OCG activities. Forces can then develop more comprehensive intervention strategies that address both the OCG threat and the environmental factors that facilitate their operations.
The Hold phase benefits from RTM’s diagnostic capabilities. Research into child maltreatment using RTM shows how environmental risk factors can identify vulnerable communities before problems emerge. This same approach can help forces identify areas at risk of OCG recruitment or criminal exploitation, enabling preventative interventions during the Hold phase. By combining RTM insights with ongoing crime pattern analysis, forces can better understand why certain locations remain attractive for OCG recruitment and low-level criminal activities. This integrated approach helps identify both persistent environmental vulnerabilities and emerging crime patterns, enabling more proactive resource deployment. When environmental risk factors are viewed alongside traditional crime data and social network analysis, partners can implement changes that make areas naturally resistant to criminal exploitation, whilst maintaining targeted enforcement where needed.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of CHB is the Build phase, where success depends on genuine community engagement and effective partnership working. Here, place-based analytics provide a powerful foundation for community dialogue. Understanding why certain neighbourhoods become vulnerable to OCG recruitment helps focus preventative efforts and community resilience building. Rather than abstract discussions about crime, communities can engage with specific, evidence-based insights about local vulnerabilities and social factors that contribute to OCG recruitment.
The complexity of CHB initiatives demands careful project management and coordination across multiple stakeholders. Local authorities, housing associations, youth services, community groups, and many others all play crucial roles in addressing identified risk factors. For instance, housing providers can help identify and protect properties at risk of cuckooing, while social services can support vulnerable residents who might be targeted by county lines groups. Each partner brings unique capabilities, but coordinating their efforts over extended timeframes presents significant challenges.
Whilst every CHB implementation is unique, reflecting local conditions and resources, successful programmes share common elements: data-driven decision making, structured partner engagement, regular progress review, and outcome measurement. These elements provide a framework for managing complexity whilst allowing for local adaptation.
Simsi’s suite of tools directly supports these requirements. RTMDx software simplifies the analysis of environmental risk factors and socio-ecological conditions, whilst ActionHub provides a structured platform for coordinating partner activities, tracking progress, and measuring outcomes. Together, they help forces implement and manage successful CHB initiatives.
For example, forces using ActionHub can coordinate multiple stakeholders working across different Clear, Hold, Build phases, ensuring that enforcement activities align with community engagement efforts and partnership interventions. The platform’s project management capabilities help maintain momentum across extended timeframes, whilst its measurement tools track progress toward sustainable outcomes.
Whether you’re planning your first CHB implementation or looking to enhance an existing programme, combining place-based analytics with structured partner engagement can help deliver better outcomes for your communities. By understanding both the people and places involved in serious organised crime, forces can develop more effective strategies for long-term crime reduction through the Clear, Hold, Build framework. To learn more about how Simsi can support your Clear, Hold, Build initiatives, visit www.simsi.com/contact or read our whitepaper on going Beyond Hot Spots.