Fight Crime by Becoming a 'Super Controller'
Posted on Tue, Aug 03, 2010
If you’ve never sat down and read a published research study, 
you’re missing out on a fascinating way to broaden your knowledge. Recently, I ran across a research paper published in Security Journal titled "Super controllers and crime prevention: A routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure". The question addressed by the study is: “Why does crime prevention fail? And under what conditions does it succeed?”
For those who enjoy reading this kind of thing, go read the article. But if scientific research isn’t really your thing, read on for a simplified analysis of how to use this knowledge in a real-world situation.
What Is a Super Controller?
To explain what a Super Controller is, it’s necessary to give a brief explanation of why crime happens. According to Routine Activity Theory, in order for crime to occur, three elements must come together: offenders, targets, and the places where the crime is committed. Each of these three elements has a set of Controllers that influence or exercise control over the element (hence the name Controller). These Controllers might include a security guard who roams a particular place and protects vulnerable targets, or a store manager who determines the type of security system installed to protect a place, or a neighborhood watch group that confronts strangers loitering in a neighborhood.
So what then, is a Super Controller? Quite simply, a Super Controller is anything or anyone that controls a Controller. People or groups that create the incentives or motivation for Controllers to prevent crime are Super Controllers. Super Controllers do not have a direct affect on the elements that create crime; instead they indirectly influence crime through the Controllers. For instance, a Super Controller might be a state alcohol control board or other regulatory agency, a company’s Board of Directors, or the CSO of an organization. None of these things actually prevent crime themselves, but they do influence those that do.
How Do Super Controllers Prevent Crime?
Routine Activity Theory states that crime happens when offenders meet targets at places that do not have effective Controllers, so crime prevention boils down to mobilizing Controllers and getting Controllers to be more effective at preventing crime. This makes sense from a real-world perspective.
According to the study, Controllers make decisions to prevent crime based on five elements: effort, risk, reward, excuses and provocations; so Super Controllers can also manipulate these five elements in order to change the Controllers’ incentives and prevent crime.
Basically, this means that you can become a Super Controller by influencing one or more of these elements to motivate Controllers to prevent crime. This one insight can be used to provide a host of real-world applications for improving security.
Motivating Controllers
The study points out that motivating Controllers isn’t just about providing money or other rewards. As stated, there are five elements that can be influenced to motivate Controllers: effort, risk, reward, excuses and provocation. Let’s take a look at some examples:
Effort
Effort is the cost or exertion of intervening to prevent crime. When intervention is cheap or easy, Controllers will provide more crime prevention. Super Controllers can influence this by making prevention easier or by making it more difficult or costly for a Controller to avoid prevention. One example is installing emergency phones on a campus. By making it easier for students or workers to report crime through the emergency phones, they will be more likely to do so, and also more likely to provide direct or indirect prevention rather than ignoring the incident.
Risk
Risk is the penalty for not taking preventative action. Controllers can be motivated by the negative consequences of allowing crime. These negative consequences are not limited to monetary or legal consequences, but could also include social ostracism, loss of status, criticism from peers and other factors. Super Controllers can motivate Controllers by either imposing additional risk or creating awareness of the risk involved in failing to take preventative action. One example is the public posting of security failures. This creates the risk of a loss of status or prestige through embarrassment, which can be very motivating to some individuals.
Rewards
Rewards are direct positive benefits received by the Controller for preventing crime. Rewards are the easiest way that Super Controllers motivate Controllers. While monetary rewards are quite common, other rewards exist. You should not neglect the power that social rewards can have. Public praise and recognition can be very motivational to the right individuals.
Excuses
Excuses are the justifications Controllers use for not taking preventative action. This could include a lack of training, lack of oversight, or lack of clear procedures. One way to remove these justifications is to provide documented, formal security policies including clear instructions and methods of operation. Training programs, industry best-practices, and awareness campaigns can also be used by Super Controllers to remove excuses.
Provocation
Provocation refers to disputes or conflict between Controllers. Increased provocation between Controllers limits their effectiveness in controlling crime elements. If the Security Department and the IT Department have conflicts over the maintenance of the security technology, both will have a limited ability to prevent crime through that security system. Conflict resolution and dispute avoidance are common ways for Super Controllers to reduce provocation between Controllers.
To wrap it all up, the question posed at the beginning of the study is: “Why does crime prevention fail? And, under what conditions does it succeed?” The answer appears to be crime prevention fails when Controllers are not properly motivated by Super Controllers. So if you want to create a successful security plan, the best way to do so is not by focusing on specific technology, but to focus on being a Super Controller and effectively motivating the individuals and groups that will influence the outcomes you desire.
What are you doing to motivate your Controllers?