Bexley and Bromley

Crime displacement is always a threat to crime prevention and needs to be considered in crime reduction work. There are a considerable number of causal and contributory factors that impact on levels of crime in a particular area. Proving conclusive evidence of displacement at a strategic or local level is very difficult to either substantiate or refute and any cursory analysis could inadvertently attribute a factor not associated with displacement.

However, various research studies have shown that displacement is much less of a problem than has been generally supposed. Even when displacement can be shown to occur, it may be far from complete displacement, giving important net reductions in crime and in some cases crime prevention measures have resulted in a diffusion of benefits to adjacent areas . (Town, S (2001) Crime Displacement Paper, www.crimereduction.gov.uk/skills10b.htm)
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