Defensible space theory and the police: Assessing the vulnerability of residences to burglary

This study examines how defensible space theory and recent modifications to it apply to assessments of single-family dwelling vulnerability to burglary by police officers. Fifty photographs of detached houses were scored on fifty-five specific physical cues in six defensible space cue categories. Forty-one police officers reliably rated the vulnerability of the houses to burglary. A modified Brunswik lens model was used to determine which cue categories police officers use to assess vulnerability. Simple and partial correlation analyses show how road and occupant surveillability, actual barriers, traces of occupancy, and house value are related to vulnerability assessments by police; symbolic barriers are unrelated to their assessments. Police assessments of vulnerability are, based on previous research, very similar to those of residents, but less similar to those of burglars. Suggestions for a more parsimonious and pluralistic defensible space theory are made. (C) 1999 Academic Press.