As a very junior (i.e. young) investigator I would often find a situation where the only conclusion would be that it was a wonder that the crime had not been perpetrated earlier and more frequently. There was no idea of crime prevention. A few window bars. More than one lock on a door or contained. That was about it.
I served long enough to see this situation reversed. We organised crime prevention courses to train officers how to undertake surveys and forestall easy pickings. Technological advances were taken into our armoury. Closed circuit TV was a back-up to the window bars. Alarm systems became very sophisticated; way beyond a ringing bell that was ignored by most. The new concentration on preventing crime by use of brain power rather than application of the wooden poultice, worked.
Then came the mania for measuring work done and results achieved. Officers were spending more and more time in their stations with paperwork and keyboards. Crime prevention fell off. Guess the result of that.
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