Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

The Secured Car Park (SCP) Award Scheme was established by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in September 1992 as an off-shoot of their Secured by Design initiative. The scheme was designed to encourage those responsible for car parks to improve security as a way of reducing criminal activity, the fear of crime and the perception of crime in all car parks and vehicle retention areas. This report describes the findings of an evaluation of the scheme carried out by Morgan Harris Burrows and Holden McAllister Partnership.

Title: Between the lines: an evaluation of the Secured Car Park Award Scheme
Authors: David G. Smith, Mick Gregson and James Morgan
Series: Home Office Research Study No. 266
Number of pages: 94
Date published: March 2003

Six study areas were selected for detailed analysis. These included: Manchester, Nottingham, Cheltenham, Northampton, Canterbury and Daventry. Additional information was also collected from outside these areas. The study areas were selected to provide variation in types of town, vehicle crime rates, types of car park, car park design and levels of SCP scheme membership.

The research consisted of a number of elements including:

• interviews with national representatives of the scheme and other stakeholders

• workshops and surveys conducted with Police Architectural Liaison Officers

• interviews with local car park operators, police and others

• a survey of car users in the study areas

• analysis of crime, disorder and car park usage data

• independent security reviews of the selected car parks.

A study of the costs and benefits of the Secured Car Park Award Scheme was also carried out in two study areas.

The survey of car users was conducted face-to-face with a sample of users in Canterbury, Cheltenham, Northampton, Manchester and Nottingham. The survey was designed to cover a range of different types and designs of car parks across the sample. 

The impact of the scheme has been limited by its relatively low take-up. The common practice of targeting scheme membership towards low-crime car parks that require little improvement has meant that vehicle crime is not reduced in many cases as a result of the award process. Increased public awareness of the scheme may mean that motorists begin to look for SCPs when choosing somewhere to park. This would possibly stimulate other car park operators to upgrade their car parks. While the SCP scheme is not the only way to improve security of car parks, it can be said to have helped in reducing both crime and the fear of crime and it has acted as an incentive for car park improvements in other areas.

Some of the main conclusions from the evaluation are:

• SCP can help to reduce levels of vehicle crime and fear of crime when targeted at high-crime car parks

• the key measures that impact on both crime levels and fear of crime appear to be formal surveillance (including patrols), lighting, access control and the physical appearance of the car park

• car park management also appears to be a critical factor in running a safe, secure car park

• new car parks built to SCP standard generally have low crime levels and are highly rated by users

• car parks with lowest user ratings were all old surface car parks

• improving the security of car parks can lead to increased usage and profits

• there is evidence that there is some inconsistent application of the scheme across the country.

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