Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on 'Crime and Safety in Cities'
Date: 1999-11-18
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: crime against individuals, offence, public safety, town, town planning

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ii) The Commission and the COR identify the key services
provided by local and regional authorities that contribute
to the objectives set out in the European Action Plan
2000-2004, and develop a programme of activities to
ensure that these services meet these objectives.

The COR encourages the Commission to maintain the Com-
mittee for the Prevention of Drug Addiction as a support to
the Directorate for Health and Consumer Protection.

Brussels, 18th November 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Crime and Safety in Cities’

(2000/C 57/15)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

having regard to the Bureau decision of 11 June 1997, under Article 198c(4) of the Treaty establishing
the European Community, to instruct Commission 4 ‘Spatial Planning, Urban Issues, Energy and
Environment’ to draw up an opinion on ‘Crime and safety in Cities’;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 294/99 rev. 1) adopted unanimously by Commission 4 (meeting
of 7 October 1999) (rapporteur: Ms Tarras-Wahlberg, PSE),

adopted the following opinion unanimously at its 31st plenary session on 17 and 18 November 1999
(meeting of 18 November).

1.

Introduction

1.1.
In Europe there is widespread interest in crime and
public safety and security issues. Two working groups have
been set up, including representatives from several cities. The
Council of Europe has had a ‘Crime and Urban Insecurity’
group for some years now, and the group has produced a
number of reports. Eurocities recently set up a working group
on ‘urban safety’, but it has not yet produced a report.

1.3.
Under Article 29 (ex-Article K.1) of the Amsterdam
Treaty, the EU must aim to provide citizens with a high level
of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice by
developing common action among the Member States in the
fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
and by preventing and combating racism and xenophobia.
This is to be achieved by preventing and combating crime,
organised or otherwise, and in particular terrorism, trafficking
in persons and offences against children, illicit drug trafficking
and illicit arms trafficking, corruption and fraud.

1.2.
Article 2 (ex-Article B) of the Amsterdam Treaty states
that the EU must aim to strengthen the protection of citizens’
rights and interests through the introduction of a citizenship
of the Union.

A large proportion of EU measures currently focus on

1.4.
organised and cross-border crime.

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1.5. While it is extremely important to combat organised
and cross-border crime, EU citizens feel the fight against
everyday crime — in respect of the subsidiarity principle — is
of at least equal importance. This type of crime makes them
feel insecure and unsafe; it also provides a springboard and
breeding ground for organised and cross-border crime. It is
thus vitally important to make a determined effort to tackle
everyday crime. This must of course be achieved through
measures at local, regional and EU level.

The interpretation of ‘everyday crime’ can vary from
1.6.
country to country, or even within the same country. However,
some types of crime do seem to occur across the board. These
include crime against persons (e.g. violence, sexual abuse and
racist crime) and material crime (e.g. graffiti and other forms
of vandalism).

2. Causes of crime (1)

2.1.
Crime is an integral part of our society and most
criminals generally behave just like any other citizen. It thus
follows that it is the pattern of everyday life, i.e. the society in
which we all live — criminals and law-abiding citizens alike
— which has the greatest
trends
and patterns. Preventive action to combat the causes and
circumstances of crime and socially undesirable behaviour is a
task for all groups within society.

influence on criminal

2.2.
The scope and spread of crime in a given area largely
depends on its inhabitants or on the people who, for one
reason or another, are staying in the area. The word ‘users’ is a
useful umbrella term here. In the countryside,
‘users’ and
‘inhabitants’ are often interchangeable, but in the cities the
former outnumber the latter by a wide margin. By ‘users’ here,
we mean — in addition to the city’s inhabitants — people
who work in the city but do not live there. In addition to these,
tourists from home and abroad, and people who travel in from
the suburbs in search of recreation must also be counted as
‘users’.

2.3.
Some types of city have more ‘users’ than others, e.g.
capital cities, industrial cities, those which attract tourists, and
regional leisure and entertainment centres. To understand the
crime and safety problems of different cities or regions, it is
necessary to have a good grasp of who the users are, rather
than just how many people live there. This is of vital
importance when assessing the impact of different measures.

(1) Projects under the Falcone Programme are investigating links

between serious crime and everyday crime.

2.4.
Explanations for the causes of crime look to theories
which either focus on the individual, or circumstances beyond
the individual, or a mixture of both. Cultural differences are
not such that one might expect the ‘individual’ causes to vary
to any great extent.

2.5. When studying crime in the city, urban planning must
be taken into consideration. Socio-economic structures could
even explain differences between cities or regions. It is also
important to consider the role of the city in the region, e.g. as
a workplace, seat of learning, leisure centre, etc.

2.6. Metropolitan areas provide a marketplace for crime in
the sense that convertible goods are readily available, as is the
opportunity to sell them on. Large cities have many house-
holds, cars, visitors and companies. There is a constant flow of
people and events. Life is more anonymous than in more
provincial areas.

2.7.
Cities also provide what in market terms might be
called a good ‘recruitment pool’ for crime. There are many
social deviants who, for one reason or another, converge on
the city; illegal immigrants can remain largely anonymous;
those who engage in criminal activity or who are illegal
immigrants are much more likely to be discovered in a
provincial town than in a large city.

2.8.
There are several criminological theories. According to
the theory known as ‘routine activity theory’, three factors are
present when a crime occurs:

— the criminally-inclined individual

— objects which invite crime

— absence of adequate protection (2).

Crime occurs when a criminally-inclined individual is exposed
to an object worth stealing which lacks adequate protection.

2.9.
Preventing crime involves trying to influence some of
the above factors. Good crime prevention does not necessarily
mean that one either can or must eliminate all of the factors.

(2) Also known as ‘effective surveillance’. This includes people such
as the police, guards and especially ordinary people (local
residents, employers, employees, etc.). The extent
to which
criminals are attracted to an object depends on the degree of
external protection and other technical measures. A high degree
of external protection removes the attraction.

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2.10.
The scale and patterns of crime are related to
population structure. Groups in certain areas may be more
criminally-inclined, while those in other areas may be more
likely to report crime, or to be more exposed to crime.

surveillance from its ‘users’ (residents, workers, visitors, ‘leisure
commuters’, etc.), who provide adequate protection against
most types of crime. There is strong evidence that the make-up
of the ‘user-group’ is a major factor in providing protection.

3.

Individuals who are likely to commit crime

The road to crime often begins in the early teens, with
3.1.
crimes such as petty theft and vandalism. Much of this is
opportunistic crime, i.e. it is seldom planned, and is carried
out to provide the peer group with excitement. For most
young people it stops there, but others go on to commit more
serious crimes. From this comparatively large number of
occasional offenders, a small number of people will go on to
become repeat offenders. These people have often been
members of a gang, and have learned a criminal way of life
through peer pressure.

3.2.
A very small number of criminals is responsible for a
large amount of crime. This is particularly true for crimes such
as violent crime and burglary, where it is possible to identify a
group of repeat offenders which is disproportionately active.
This type of criminal has generally been well-known to social
workers and the legal authorities from an early age. The
most effective way of preventing the huge volume of crime
committed by these people is to stop them from boarding the
criminal bandwagon.

3.3.
The longer the criminal bandwagon has been allowed
to roll, the more difficult it is for social or situational crime
prevention measures to stop it. It is therefore vital to intervene
at the earliest possible stage to prevent children and young
people from being drawn into serious crime. If gangs are to
be prevented from replacing normal societal patterns, it is
important to split them up as soon as possible. Society must
act on wrong behaviour at an early stage.

Urban planning plays an important role in obtaining
4.3.
an even flow of users from the different categories throughout
the day. A city area populated entirely by workers during the
day and only by those in search of entertainment in the
evening is not protected as effectively as an area with a mix
‘leisure
of different categories (residents, workers, visitors,
commuters’). Social meeting points where people can meet
up provide better social control, thus enhancing people’s
enjoyment and feeling of safety.

4.4.
Urban planners need to deal with structural situations
which breed insecurity, e.g. urban decay. Run-down, decaying
areas of a city are often inhabited by people with various
problems. Unemployment, poverty, drug abuse and crime are
common, and there is often a high percentage of immigrant
residents.

4.5.
Crime prevention must be considered in the planning
stage for both new construction and urban renewal projects.
This could be achieved through close cooperation between
urban planning authorities, property owners and the authori-
ties responsible for public safety.

4.6.
The EU Member States are currently experimenting
with various projects where crime-prevention is mainstreamed
into urban planning.

5. Safety and security

4. Urban planning

4.1.
As far as urban planning is concerned, the most
important crime prevention strategy is the provision of
adequate protection. Discussions of adequate protection often
focus on technical solutions, such as alarms and surveillance
systems.

4.2.
The concept of what constitutes ‘adequate protection’
needs to be expanded to take in other solutions. A house
which is never left empty is less likely to be burgled than one
which is periodically unoccupied. This reasoning ought to
hold true for all geographical areas. A city is under indirect

5.1. When discussing security at EU, national, regional and
local level within Europe, it is important to remember that
there can be a discrepancy between actual and perceived levels
of safety, not forgetting how this is portrayed in the media.

5.2.
Safety cannot be measured objectively. It is affected by
our own personal experience, lifestyle, and the way we choose
to interact with our surroundings. It is extremely important
that residents should be able to identify with their city.

5.3. Many cities are endeavouring to work with figures on
insecurity rather than just crime. There is a remarkable

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discrepancy between the two in terms of when people perceive
certain situations as unsafe and vice-versa. National surveys
have revealed that the people who worry most about crime
are those who are least exposed to it, while those who tend to
be on the receiving end of crime — i.e. young men — give
little thought to the matter.

5.4.
Preventing the feeling that public safety is at risk is
completely different from preventing crime. The question of
public trust and confidence in the authorities responsible for
safety and security also has to be addressed. When an
individual has a bad experience with the authorities, there are
serious repercussions in terms of trust and confidence. The
police run courses for their officers in this area.

In structural terms, it is visible crime and disorder
5.5.
which impact most on perceived safety levels. People’s sense
of safety is affected most by the crime and disorder they can
see in our cities; crime where they are chance-victims, e.g.
sexual assault, mugging etc. Noise, shouting, aggressive and
threatening behaviour and vandalism all have a negative
impact on perceptions of safety.

5.6.
‘Covert’ crime (violence in the home), and situations in
which people can influence their vulnerability to crime (violen-
ce between people who know each other) are rarely perceived
as threatening. There is something of a paradox here, as it is
precisely this type of crime (particularly violence in the home)
which — despite the large number of unrecorded cases and a
lack of public awareness — represents a major problem for
society.

One reason why safety is perceived in this way could
5.7.
be that the media, for example, see senseless, chance street
crime as being more newsworthy than the everyday tragedies
played out in the home. When the media continually report
certain types of crime, there is a tendency to overestimate the
risk of falling victim to it. Media reporting can cause perceived
safety levels to differ markedly from real safety levels. The
media do not just paint a picture of reality; they also try to
describe the social climate surrounding the events. In doing
so, they affect the very climate they are trying to portray. In
other words, media reporting not only contributes to the way
events are described but also influences the social climate.

that

the criminal

some form of help whether it be financial or emotional,
influences perceived safety. The fact
is
convicted can have a therapeutic effect on the victim, reducing
further anxiety. Financial compensation makes it easier for the
victim to move on without being overwhelmed by anxiety.
Quick, sure access to adequate professional help and care after
a crime is also extremely important for basic feelings of safety.
Similarly, after a building has been defaced or vandalised, it is
important to bolster the public’s feeling of safety by ensuring
the walls are cleaned of graffiti and all broken windowpanes
are replaced.

5.9.
It can be said that organised and cross-border crime
impacts less on perceived safety than does everyday crime in
the local environment.

5.10.
In some cases, perceived safety levels are mistaken, in
as much as they do not correspond to any actual risk of
becoming a victim of crime. Negative perceptions of public
safety are detrimental to society, so this factor should not be
ignored. Efforts to enhance public safety should therefore take
the perceived safety factor into account.

6. Victim Support

6.1.
It is important that the victims of crime get help and
support. A victim’s perception that he is not safe increases
when support is lacking, and he feels abandoned. This anxiety
can soon spread to those around him.

6.2. Mediation can provide useful victim support. Criminal
and victim meet, together with an impartial mediator to talk
about the crime. Victims can speak about their experience and
can get answers to their questions about the crime. Criminals
are better able to grasp the consequences of their action, and
are given the opportunity to express regret. Mediation works
best when the criminal is young.

6.3.
There are also instances where voluntary organisations
help in replacing stolen documents, having keys cut, etc., to
prevent any escalation in the subjective feeling of insecurity.

7. Measures by the police and society as a whole

5.8.
Feelings of safety and anxiety can also be affected by
circumstances other than crime. It goes without saying that
society’s institutions influence an individual’s basic sense of
safety. The knowledge that, after the sense of violation which
always accompanies a crime has subsided, the victim can get

7.1.
The police have an important role to play in the drive
to foster safety and security. It is, however, important that the
problem should not be seen merely as something which
concerns the police, but also as a problem for society.

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7.2.
In order to provide a safe community, the police must
work closely with the public and be visible on the streets. It
also helps if the composition of the police force reflects the
diversity of the population.

and the European identity which follows on from European
citizenship. However, this must not detract from an understan-
ding of people from other countries or from other ethnic
groups who are now part of European society.

The police can work on both prevention and enforce-
7.3.
ment, but success rates can be improved if society’s other
authorities and institutions are also involved in the fight
against crime. The social services, schools, corporate organisa-
tions,
local residents, voluntary organisations, etc. are all
useful cooperation partners for the police. Cooperation and
coordination between all these make strong, effective crime
prevention possible.

7.4.
In some countries, local security contracts are drawn
up between the police, the courts, school authorities, organisa-
tions and local politicians, in order to improve crime preven-
tion and increase public safety.

7.5.
There are also examples of advisory groups comprising
the local police and representatives from the local community.
These have been very successful, not least in providing the
police with information to allow them to investigate a crime it
would have otherwise been difficult to solve.

8. The public’s obligations

9. Exchanges within the European Union

The above-mentioned problems are being addressed at
9.1.
local or regional level. Future efforts should continue to focus
on this level.

Cooperation within the European Union tends to take
9.2.
place at national level. Exchanges do not occur so frequently
at regional or local authority level.

9.3.
There is, however, good reason to believe that the
various local and regional authorities who are working to
prevent, hinder or take measures against crime have much to
learn from each other when dealing with everyday crime
issues. This is currently possible — albeit on a small scale —
through town twinning arrangements (‘twin cities’).

It is important that the measures adopted should be of
9.4.
a long-term nature, thus having a lasting impact on crime
reduction and increased security. This does not, of course,
mean that it is not important to adopt measures which will
have an immediate effect on crime and security. This could be
achieved by actively coordinating regional and local authority
measures rather than through mere cooperation.

8.1.
It is not only criminal behaviour that creates a feeling
of insecurity; bad behaviour can also contribute considerably.
When society’s authority is undermined, such behaviour
becomes more common.

10. Dissemination of best practice

8.2. Whilst members of the public have a right to safety
and security, their obligation to help achieve this should not
be forgotten. People need to be informed about their duties as
citizens in promoting solidarity and safety in their community.
If the city is to become a human place, steps must be taken to
help prevent youth exclusion, combat discrimination in society
and in the workplace, and prevent drug abuse and violence in
schools and society. People themselves should no longer turn
a blind eye to crime and public order violations, but do their
utmost to be part of the solution.

Apart from educating students, schools also have an
8.3.
important role to play in passing on social values and
explaining how society operates. Children’s experience at
school lays the foundations for the way they will behave as
adults, and determines whether they will feel part of society or
stay out on the margins. Schools must strengthen both the
feeling of local identity which comes with national citizenship,

The European Council secretariat

10.1.
is compiling a
handbook containing Europe-wide examples of best practice
in crime prevention for dissemination to European States. The
aim is to spread the examples rapidly, and there is no
requirement to provide an assessment of their effect. This
initiative comes from Germany, which defines crime preven-
tion as follows:

‘Crime prevention includes all programmes, initiatives and
measures which normally prevent or limit crime both
quantitatively and qualitatively as a political or social
phenomenon in terms of cooperation measures between
States and private institutions or at an individual level or
which at least keep the negative repercussions of crime to
a minimum and increase the public’s feeling of safety (1).’

(1) 5227/99 DG H II.

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10.2.
There are good examples in several different European
cities and regions of measures which have lowered the crime
rate and enhanced security. It should be possible to use these
examples as a source of inspiration for other cities which have
similar problems.
these examples of
It is important that
crime prevention and safety-enhancing measures can spread
throughout the EU, particularly between regions and munici-
palities.

12. Conclusions

The Committee of the Regions feels it is extremely
12.1.
important that European Union should pay attention to public
security and safety issues, particularly at local and regional
level. A social policy approach can be adopted at local level in
particular. Local authorities should, as far as possible, help in
the drive to eradicate the causes of crime by means of youth,
social and family policy.

10.3.
In order to provide access to these examples, the EU
should aim to set up an information centre where they can be
collated. The information centre should collate and disseminate
examples which have proven beneficial. It could also collate
and disseminate crime statistics and information.

12.2.
The Committee of the Regions believes that people
have a right to feel safe in their everyday lives, and that public
perceptions of safety play an important part in the quality of
life.

10.4.
There must, however, be an assessment of these
examples of best practice before they are disseminated. For
instance, external factors which might affect the impact of
various measures must be carefully identified. In this connec-
tion, it is important to include both practicians and researchers
in the assessment, by means of an EU network.

10.5.
The EU could usefully contribute to expanding and
enhancing cooperation between its various regions by arran-
ging exchange schemes for officials, and interregional confe-
rences. Such exchanges would make it possible to air thoughts
and ideas on ways of dealing with everyday crime, thus
reducing both public concern about safety levels and recruit-
ment to the world of crime. This could also provide a good
basis for combating organised crime in the long term.

The Committee of the Regions feels it is important to
12.3.
frame examples for dissemination in regional and local
authority areas which can be implemented using existing
resources rather than requiring outside funding.

These could include:

— training programmes for the police, among others, stres-

sing the importance of the trust factor;

— introducing and discussing the subjective aspect of safety
at all levels in school; this could be done with the help of
experts in various sectors, e.g. the police and the social
services;

— mainstreaming security and safety issues in urban renewal

projects;

— taking on board ab initio police and other security authority

expertise in urban planning and renewal projects;

— promoting discussion of these issues at regional and local

11. Harnessing EU funds

level.

There are currently several different EU funds and
11.1.
programmes which regional and local authorities can apply to
for resources (1). With reference to Article 29, there could be a
case for reviewing how current and possible future funds, can
foster crime prevention via cooperation at local and regional
level.

11.2.
There are, however, numerous other funds and
programmes which are not primarily intended for what might
directly be regarded as the forces of law and order. Where
appropriate, crime and security issues should be seen as a
deciding factor. Practical experience of general crime preven-
tion and security funds shows, moreover, that these issues are
not just police-specific issues, but a problem for society.

(1) For the legal world, the Oisin, Falcone and Grotius programmes.

12.4.
Better cooperation and exchanges on crime preven-
tion at local and regional level can, in the long-term, help to
shrink the ‘recruitment pool’ for cross-border and organised
crime. The Committee of the Regions therefore calls on the
Commission to continue to promote crime prevention at local
and regional level.

12.5.
The Committee of the Regions also considers it
important for the Commission to see to it that security matters
remain on the agenda. When it comes to disbursing money
from various funds and in Community initiatives, projects
which include safety and security aspects should always be
given priority.

The Committee of the Regions considers that the
12.6.
question of establishing an EU crime prevention information
centre for collating and disseminating best practice is of such
importance that it warrants thorough investigation. In this
the Regions calls on the
connection,
Commission to harness local and regional authorities’ expe-
rience.

the Committee of

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12.7.
The Committee of the Regions believes that good
examples must be assessed before they are disseminated. For
instance, external factors which might affect the impact of
various measures must be carefully identified. The Committee
of the Regions calls on the Commission to endeavour to
include both practicians and researchers in a Europe-wide
network.

12.8.
The Committee of the Regions believes that funding
must be more readily available to encourage exchanges
between Member State regional and local authorities. Similarly,
the funding arrangements for an information centre and a
European network must be finalised. The Committee of the
Regions calls on the Council and the European Parliament to
ensure the budget provides for this.

Brussels, 18 November 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions on a forestry strategy for the European Union’

(2000/C 57/16)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a forestry strategy for the
European Union (COM(1998) 649 final);

having regard to the Council resolution of 15 December 1998 on a European forestry strategy (1);

having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural
development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (2);

having regard to Regulation (EC) No. 1261/1999 of the European Parliament and Council of 21 June
1999 on the European Regional Development Fund (3);

having regard to Regulation (EC) No. 1262/99 of the European Parliament and Council of 21 June 1999
on the European Social Fund (4);

having regard to the Commission Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on climate
change ‘The European Union approach for Kyoto’ (COM(1998) 353 final);

having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 31 January 1997 on the European Union’s
forestry strategy (5);

(1) OJ C 56, 26.2.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
(3) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 43.
(4) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 48.
(5) OJ C 55, 24.2.1997, p. 22.