IELTS Practice Test 24
There are more and more effective security measures in large cities to reduce the crime. Does this endeavor bring more benefits than problems?
Band 8.0+ Sample Essay
Recently, the society has witnessed the rapid proliferation of various measures targeting to prevent victimisation. It is followed by a protracted debate over its benefits and drawbacks. In my opinion, this is just a reflection of the inflated fear of crime and not the actual levels.
To some extent, the soaring presence of anti-crime devices somehow fuels the fear of crime and has a devastating effect on people’s quality of life. Crimes maybe concentrated on particular areas, but the fear of crime can spreads across the community and affects nearly every resident. The most harmful aspect of this phenomenon is that people’s freedom is restricted and sometimes, their privacy is invaded. There is little, if any, proof explaining that the threat people feel has a real life counterpart.
Meanwhile, although some measures are believed to put the end to crime, they too often produce opposite results. For instance, lighting in a dark area may create peace of mind for lots of people, but it also enables criminals to target their prey more easily, leading to a higher probability of attacks. The benefits of self-protective measures such as gun ownership and martial arts training are also doubtful due to the fact that nobody can confirm its net effect of decreasing harm. Usually, most personal defensive equipment is either too difficult to use or less effective than expected.
Crime reduction and prevention also rely mainly on other approaches rather than just security methods. It is necessary to know that criminals tend to choose their targets based on time and whereabouts. Therefore, citizens will be more vulnerable to victimization if they bypass those place where crimes frequently occur. In the inner city, where violation are epidemic, eliminating the dilapidated building used by criminals for hiding or selecting a target seems to be more practical than requiring shops and residents nearby to install expensive security system. The integral part of crime prevention is altering the environment, by which the root causes or at least the facilitators of crime can be erased.
As discussed above, it is not easy to measure the effectiveness of anti-crime equipment and users should examine it regularly. The crime prevention framework should play great importance on making the environment safe, not just to go against violating behaviors.
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