A/CONF. 187/7 public places such as shopping malls, parks and enter- of victimization. The costs of prevention must also be tainment facilities compared with the human and social costs of the criminal d) The increased use of security devices leads to Justice system, which, despite the best efforts of jurist ne regimentation of society and means that law-abiding parliamentarians and officials, continues to be intrusive citizens are forced to endure irksome and inconvenient precautions such as security checks at building entrances 26. Ethical concerns have been addressed in United and the loss of luggage storage facilities Nations efforts to establish international principles for the (e)The insistence that members of the public take implementation of crime prevention, most recently through precautions to protect themselves from crime results in the convening of an expert group meeting in Buenos Aires crime victims being blamed for their own misfortune It (8-10 September 1999)to consider elements of responsible also results in women'senduring significant restrictions on crime prevention. The resulting draft guidelines(see going out at night and travelling alone; annex), which build on those appearing in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1997/33, propose (h Because situational prevention can be expen- that in their crime prevention plans Member States take sive, it can result in crime being displaced from the rich, account of the main international instruments related to who can afford to take protective measures, to the poor, human rights and crime prevention, such as the Convention who cannot afford to do so. It can also result in less serious on the Rights of the Child(General Assembly resolu forms of crime being replaced by more violent crime as tion 44/25, annex), the Declaration on the Elimination of offenders compensate for the increased difficulties they Violence against Women(resolution 48/104), the United Nations guidelines for the prevention of juvenile delin- 23. These criticisms have not gone unanswered. It has quency (The Riyadh Guidelines)(resolution 45/112, been argued, for example, that crime prevention through annex), as well as the draft Vienna Declaration on Crime environmental design encourages natural surveillance by and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first local residents of the streets and public areas around their Century and the draft United Nations Convention against homes and can promote community cohesion. Surveys have Transnational Organized Crime consistently shown that the public generally welcomes the surveillance of public spaces through closed-circuit tele- vision. Most people welcome information about routine VIll. Evaluation of crime prevention precautions they can take to protect themselves from crime Many publicly funded situational prevention measures 27. Without evaluation, crime prevention practices can- have been used to bring down unacceptably high rates of not be improved and, without hard evidence about effec crime in poor and deprived neighbourhoods tiveness, reliable information about best practices cannot be disseminated. These points have been emphasized in a 24. However reasonable these and other defences may variety of national and international strategy documents be, it is clear that the ethics of situational prevention will continue to be debated. Increasing experience of the other concerned with crime prevention. Unfortunately, con- siderable difficulties stand in the way of rigorous evalua in ethical challenges. For instance, child development tion. These difficulties can be divided into resource limita approaches are sometimes accused, on the one hand, of tions and technical problems unfairly labelling as delinquent those singled out for 28. One resource limitation is that the detailed crime data special treatment and, on the other, of rewarding the least needed for measuring the outcome of crime prevention deserving members of the community. Community measures are frequently not available because statistical development projects are also often the butt of accusations record-keeping is deficient. A second important resource of either preferential treatment or stigmatization of resi- limitation is the lack of trained personnel who are com- dents petent to undertake evaluation studies. This is not a prob- 25. However, these and other social and ethical costs of lem only for developing countries and countries with crime prevention have to be weighed against the potential economies in transition, but also for those developed benefits of reducing the burden of crime on soclety and countries without a strong tradition of quantitative research reducing the harm that befalls individual people as a result in the social sciences. In short supply everywhere is expe tise in undertaking cost-benefit evaluationsA/CONF.187/7 7 public places such as shopping malls, parks and enter￾tainment facilities; (d) The increased use of security devices leads to the regimentation of society and means that law-abiding citizens are forced to endure irksome and inconvenient precautions such as security checks at building entrances and the loss of luggage storage facilities; (e) The insistence that members of the public take precautions to protect themselves from crime results in crime victims’ being blamed for their own misfortune. It also results in women’s enduring significant restrictions on going out at night and travelling alone; (f) Because situational prevention can be expen￾sive, it can result in crime being displaced from the rich, who can afford to take protective measures, to the poor, who cannot afford to do so. It can also result in less serious forms of crime being replaced by more violent crime as offenders compensate for the increased difficulties they face. 23. These criticisms have not gone unanswered.9 It has been argued, for example, that crime prevention through environmental design encourages natural surveillance by local residents of the streets and public areas around their homes and can promote community cohesion. Surveys have consistently shown that the public generally welcomes the surveillance of public spaces through closed-circuit tele￾vision. Most people welcome information about routine precautions they can take to protect themselves from crime. Many publicly funded situational prevention measures have been used to bring down unacceptably high rates of crime in poor and deprived neighbourhoods. 24. However reasonable these and other defences may be, it is clear that the ethics of situational prevention will continue to be debated. Increasing experience of the other crime prevention approaches will most probably also result in ethical challenges. For instance, child development approaches are sometimes accused, on the one hand, of unfairly labelling as delinquent those singled out for special treatment and, on the other, of rewarding the least deserving members of the community. Community development projects are also often the butt of accusations of either preferential treatment or stigmatization of resi￾dents. 25. However, these and other social and ethical costs of crime prevention have to be weighed against the potential benefits of reducing the burden of crime on society and reducing the harm that befalls individual people as a result of victimization. The costs of prevention must also be compared with the human and social costs of the criminal justice system, which, despite the best efforts of jurists, parliamentarians and officials, continues to be intrusive and inequitable in its consequences. 26. Ethical concerns have been addressed in United Nations efforts to establish international principles for the implementation of crime prevention, most recently through the convening of an expert group meeting in Buenos Aires (8-10 September 1999) to consider elements of responsible crime prevention. The resulting draft guidelines (see annex), which build on those appearing in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1997/33, propose that in their crime prevention plans Member States take account of the main international instruments related to human rights and crime prevention, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (General Assembly resolu￾tion 44/25, annex), the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (resolution 48/104), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delin￾quency (The Riyadh Guidelines) (resolution 45/112, annex), as well as the draft Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century and the draft United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. VIII. Evaluation of crime prevention 27. Without evaluation, crime prevention practices can￾not be improved and, without hard evidence about effec￾tiveness, reliable information about best practices cannot be disseminated. These points have been emphasized in a variety of national and international strategy documents concerned with crime prevention. Unfortunately, con￾siderable difficulties stand in the way of rigorous evalua￾tion. These difficulties can be divided into resource limita￾tions and technical problems. 28. One resource limitation is that the detailed crime data needed for measuring the outcome of crime prevention measures are frequently not available because statistical record-keeping is deficient. A second important resource limitation is the lack of trained personnel who are com￾petent to undertake evaluation studies. This is not a prob￾lem only for developing countries and countries with economies in transition, but also for those developed countries without a strong tradition of quantitative research in the social sciences. In short supply everywhere is exper￾tise in undertaking cost-benefit evaluations