Can tracking height deter robbery?

Posted on : 2017-03-15 17:45 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
In Seoul, a police station to install height charts near the entrances to convenience stores and jewelry shops
A height measurement chart put up near the entrance to a convenience store
A height measurement chart put up near the entrance to a convenience store

Could hanging up a chart in stores that measures people’s height bring down the crime rate?

Seoul Gangbuk Police Station announced on Mar. 14 that it would be distributing height measurement charts to jewelry shops and convenience stores, which are often targeted by burglars.

“If a height measurement chart is hung up near the entrance to the shop, which is within the security camera’s field of view, it could have the effect of deterring crime by causing criminals to worry about their height being revealed,” the police said. While the program was adopted last year in certain parts of Daegu and Daejeon, this is the first time the height measurement charts have been displayed in Seoul. Since height measurement charts have not been used very long anywhere in the country, their effectiveness at deterring crime has not yet been analyzed.

“The height measurement charts are one component of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, which is used in the US, too. Even when crimes such as robbery or burglary take place, we expect to be able to use the height measurement charts as useful investigative data when narrowing down the suspects,” said a source at Gangbuk Police Station. The police station plans to finish putting up height measurement charts in more than 200 convenience stores and more than 50 jewelry stores in its jurisdiction by Mar. 17.

By Park Su-ji, staff reporter

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