Expert: Anti-crime ordinances should be based on proven methods

An ordinance designed to deter crime in and around convenience stores in Houston contains many sound elements, and avoids imposing measures that have been shown to be ineffective, forensic sociologist and consultant Rosemary Erickson, president of Athena Research Corp., told NPN MarketPulse in an interview.

“What’s good about the Houston ordinance is that it includes only the validated measures that science has shown do decrease robbery and violence,” said Erickson. “That’s the key thing.” Erickson, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., is a specialist in the convenience store industry.

According to research by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and a report by Erickson, there are five validated measures: keeping low amounts in cash registers; ensuring good visibility; maintaining good lighting; limiting access and escape routes; and training employees in proper behavior during a holdup or in other potentially violent situations.

Hartford, Conn., recently adopted an ordinance similar to Houston’s, and a number of other cities or states have enacted or tried to enact such laws over the years.

In Toledo, Ohio, a group of convenience-store owners is challenging that city's law requiring their businesses to be licensed at a cost of $250 a year, and to install security cameras and turn over surveillance video to police, according to a recent article by Ignazio Messina in The Toledo Blade. A law firm representing the retailers contends that the law is unconstitutional and will force some stores out of business.

“When you can get an industry to police itself or regulate itself - without laws and regulations – that’s always preferable,” Erickson said. She said she provided information to a task force that recommended the measures in the Houston ordinance, and noted that “there was some talk about” requiring two clerks to be present in stores during the overnight hours. But the NIOSH research found that the presence of two clerks does not prevent robberies or injury, according to Erickson, and that measure was not included in the Houston law, which was adopted March 26 by the city council.

Store owners in Houston must: provide annual safety training to all employees; post “no trespassing” and “no loitering” signs on the property, in effect authorizing police to remove vagrant people from parking lots and corners; post height strips at exits, which can help investigators determine the height of suspects in a hold-up; install silent panic and holdup alarms; install a drop safe to prevent easy access to large amounts of cash. They also must install color, digital surveillance cameras.