Glossary

Process evaluation	Determines whether program activities have been implemented as intended and if you got the outputs you expected.
Professional expertise	Aggregates the knowledge of a variety of practitioners and emerges from explicit reflection on the outcomes of actions.
Pulling levers strategy	See focused deterrence.
Rational choice perspective	Idea that the decision to commit a crime is a relatively purposive decision based on the offender’s interpretation and weighing of the perceived reward versus the risk.
Regression to mediocrity	Same as regression to the mean. The normal fluctuation of a variable, such as the count of crime. After a crime spike it can often return to its normal level without interference because of regression to the mean (average).
Regression to the mean	The normal fluctuation of a variable, such as the count of crime. After a crime spike it can often return to its normal level without interference because of regression to the mean (average).
Repeat victimization	Cotinued targeting of a person or place. For example, once a home has been the victim of a burglary it has an increased chance of being targeted again for a number of weeks.
Routine activities theory	For a crime to occur, there had to be a convergence of a likely offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian.
SARA model	A commonly used problem-solving method comprising ‘Scanning’, ‘Analysis’, ‘Response’ and ‘Assessment’.
SARA-type models	Crime prevention models that are based on the SARA model of problem-solving (see SARA model)
SMART objectives	Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.
Scared Straight	Scared Straight is a discredited program that aimed to deter at-risk juveniles from committing crime through prison tours involving confrontational and aggressive presentations by inmates designed to demonstrate the horrors of prison life. Extensive research has shown that the programs increases the likelihood that juveniles in the program will commit offenses in the future.
Seasonality	The regular change in crime rates for some offenses that can be attributed to seasonal changes in weather and hours of daylight.
Signal crimes	The public’s fear of being a victim of crime is not tied to aggregate data or statistics, but instead to certain ‘signal’ crimes or deviant acts that breach not only criminal law but also our conventions about social order.
Situational action theory	A person’s motivation to commit a crime is driven by temptation and/or provocation and tempered by their moral filter.
Social loafing	When people have a shared responsibility and where their individual contribution will not be assessed, they tend to put in less effort.
Strain theory	People are drawn to crime because they do not have access to economic goals and suffer relative deprivation.
Street sources	People who come into contact with police because of their occupations, activities or where they live. They include bar employees, doormen, cab drivers, workers in convenience stores, and even prostitutes.
Tasking	Tasking (either yourself or someone else such as an analyst) involves setting an appropriate analytical question related to an outcome you want to influence.
Transactional leadership	Involves setting goals and using rewards and feedback to drive productivity.
Transformational leadership	Leaders who think about organizational change and are more mission oriented. They are considered more inspirational, exhorting workers to perform beyond normal expectations, achieve more and seek aspirational goals for the benefits of others.
VOLTAGE	A structured approach to analysis that helps make sure you have at least covered some of the basic components necessary to make an informed decision.
Walt Disney	Police officers who—while well-meaning—think they know what going down on the street, but don’t have as much insight as they think.
Wicked problems	Challenging social problems that are ill-formulated and may involve many decision-makers with conflicting values.
Wisdom of crowds	The idea that the aggregated perspective of diverse groups can frequently perform better than any of the individuals in the group.