street crime in karachi report afaq18191

RUNNING HEAD: STREET CRIME IN KARACHI 1

Street Crime in Karachi: Measures to avoid it

Afaq Ahmed Soomro

Student ID: 20152-18191

Advanced Quantitative Methods

April 14, 2015

Institute of Business Management (IoBM), Karachi

STREET CRIME IN KARACHI 2

Table of Contents

List of Tables……...……………………………………………………………………………....3

Abstract………...………………………………………………………………………………….4

Acknowledgements…………………….……………………………...………………….………5

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..6

The Problem…..……………………………………………………………………………......7

Problem Statement……………………………………………………………………………...8

Objectives of the Study………………………………………………………………………....8

Research Questions……………………………………………………………………...……...9

Scope and Limitations………………………………..…………………………………..…….9

Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………….......10

Research Methodology……………………………………………………………...……….......12

Research design………………………………………………………………...…………….12

Data Collection……………………………………………………………..………………...12

Participants…………………………………………………………………………………....12

Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………..…………..12

Results and Analysis……………………………………………………………...……………...13

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………. 24

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….27

References ……………………………………………………………………………………....28

Appendix…………………………………………………………………………..…………….29

Consent Form……………………………………………………………………………….……...30

Demographic Form…………….…………………………………………………………………..31

Research Questionnaire……………………...………………...…………………………………......33


List of Tables

Table 1: Demographic Analysis I ………………………………..………………….……...…...14

Table 2: Demographic Analysis II………………………………..………………………......…16

Table 3: Number of People who encountered Street Crime ………………………...………......18

Table 4: Number of People who witnessed Street Crime …………………………..……...……19

Table 5: Pre-Measures for Avoiding Street Crime………………………………………………20

Table 6: During and Post-Event Measures when encountering Street Crime…………………...21

Table 7: During and Post-Event Measures when Witnessing Street Crime…………..…………22

Table 8: Suggestion about Government Measures………………………………………………23


Abstract

The main aim of this research was to find out the measures that people living in Karachi take, in

order to safeguard themselves from the street crime. Study was conducted through research

survey. The sample size was 150. Sample included residents of Karachi in age groups 20 to 40

years from different areas. The measures were classified as pre-event, during- event and post-

event measures. From the results we found out that majority of the people living in Karachi do

take pre-event measures such as hiding money when travelling, taking safe routes, avoid taking

public transport etc as they feel they can be attacked by street criminals any time they move in

the city. The analysis also showed that people were not happy with the measures that government

is taking in order to reduce this crime, and they believe that more resources should be given to

the law enforcing agencies to curb it, also introduce new measures to tackle these criminals.

Keywords: Street Crime, Measures, Government, Karachiites


Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my course instructor ‘Sir Shahid Iqbal’ for being such a caring,

supportive and helpful advisor throughout this course. He inspired and kept the whole class

motivated throughout these 15 weeks of process, through his professional attitude and sincere

dedication.

This Research report would not have been complete without the respondents. So I

would like to thanks all the respondents who completed my research survey and helped me in

finding more and more about our topic.


Street Crime in Karachi: Measures to avoid it

Over the last decade, while our country has faced immense problems, crimes have

also increased during this period. Karachi, being the largest city of Pakistan and Industrial capital

as well, faces a huge number of crimes which makes the life of residents very difficult. Still, the

huge population continues to live and work in this not so peaceful city. Among other crimes,

Street Crime tops the list of crimes in Karachi.

Street Crime is defined as “a loose term for any criminal offense in a public place”

(Wikipedia). The London Metropolitan Police Force explains Street Crime as “Robbery, often

called 'mugging', and thefts from victims in the street where their property is snatched and

the victim is not assaulted.” In Karachi though, Street Crime’s definition doesn’t follow the

latter part of this definition as the victim is assaulted, even killed if he doesn’t obey the robbers.

This makes the life of Karachi Citizens on risk every time they go out in the city. No one knows

when a group of 2 or 3 youngsters stop him (even if he is in his car, or on bike) and ask him to

give them his watch/cell phone/wallet etc on gun point. If the victim doesn’t oblige, he must get

ready to lose his life at that very moment. It is quite sad to say that Police and other law

enforcements agencies in Karachi have failed to curb this street crime.

In this research, I have tried to understand what measures/actions the citizens of

Karachi take in order to avoid themselves from getting mugged. There is of course no assurance

that it will save them, but at least the risk factor has to be minimized.


The Problem

Karachi is a huge city. It is ranked as the 7th largest urban agglomeration in the world,

largest Muslim city and 2nd largest city in the world by population within city limits, with an

estimated population of 23.5 million. When a city is hugely populated like this. Crimes do

happen. In every large city of the world, crimes are on the rise; unfortunately the city of Karachi

is quite a way ahead in terms of crime. Street Crime is at the top of the list in those crimes.

Street Crime is a social problem in our city. These crimes are conducted by big criminal

organizations, which send their people on streets to mug people. Its effects have a strong

influence on our society too. There can be many reasons of people joining these criminal

organizations such as unemployment and lack of education. All in all, there is a huge mafia

working behind this act of street crime.

Every person living in Karachi fears for being victim of street crime, even the people who

come to Karachi just for a day or two – for any type of work - from the other parts of the country

have become victims of this criminality.

It is a huge problem that we, as Karachiites face. Unfortunately, the Government either

doesn’t recognize it as a problem or they don’t pay any attention to it, that this problem keeps on

getting bigger and bigger, rather than being reduced.


When Government doesn’t make ample efforts to curb a crime, it then becomes the

responsibility of citizens themselves to take efforts/measures that they feel can contribute to

avoid themselves from becoming victim to the crime.

In this paper, it is tried to analyze what people living in Karachi do, in order to save them

from the street crime. The measures will be categorized as pre, during and post the event (street

crime act), and will conclude which measures should be the top priority of the citizens to protect

themselves from getting victimized by the criminals.

Problem Statement

Crime prevention is everyone’s responsibility. To control a crime such as street crime,

everyone has to take part and be aware of what to do. Similarly, Street Crime needs measures not

only from the government, but also the Citizens should know what to do in order to prevent them

from getting mugged by the street crime Mafia.

Objective of study

The objective of this research is find and analyse what measures do the citizens of

Karachi take, so to avoid them from losing their property such as Vehicle, Watch, Cell phone,

Jewellery etc. To understand what is the perception of citizens regarding government’s measures

and what should be done by government to control Street Crime in Karachi.


Research Questions

What are the measures that people take to save them from getting victimized to Street

Crime?

What measures the government can take to curb this act?

What more can be done by people to avoid street crime?

Scope and Limitations

This study is limited to the geographic area of Karachi only. People in other cities may

have different measures to save them from street crime.


Literature Review

Many researchers in the past have done researches on street crime and its prevention all

over the world, but mainly focusing on one major issue such as CCTVs, Street lighting etc. It is

now well recognized that the level of particular crimes can be controlled by altering the physical

state in which they happen (Clarke and Mayhew, 1980). Most obviously, this can be reached by

making the target of a crime more resilient to attack or by eliminating it entirely. Less directly,

changing the environmental settings in which wrongdoings are committed can also be effective

and contribute to a decrease in terror. In Kansas City, a key re-lighting plan managed to lower

levels of robbery and assault, some of which appeared to be displaced, but left property crime

unaffected (Wright et al, 1974). However, Jones’s (1975) assessment of lighting improvements

in two police areas of New Orleans showed negligible change in the level of night-time crime.

Nevertheless, assessments of sociological impact have been more encouraging and consistent,

and suggest that increased - or more uniform - lighting does reduce fear.

A study of lighting on three estates in the London Borough of Brent showed that

residents believed lighting improvements were an important part of the solution to the crime

problem (Safe Neighbourhoods Unit, 1989). However, a survey of community safety in Brighton

revealed that there was little overlap between areas avoided because of fear of crime and areas

that were poorly lit (Demuth, 1989).

Car crime in general including that in car parks in particular is clearly a serious issue.

One aspect of the problem can be addressed by designing cars to make them less vulnerable


(Mayhew, Clarke, and Hough 1980; Southall and Ekblom 1985), for example by installing

improved steering locks, better door locks, identity marks, and car alarms, and by encouraging

the public to activate security devices where fitted, and to remove clearly attractive items from

sight where possible. Another aspect of the problem relates to the environment in which the

offence takes place. Poyner & Webb (1991) examine the effect of the design and layout of

residential areas on car crime. There has been some research into the management and

organization of car parks and how this may impact on patterns of crime (Laycock & Austin

1992; Webb, Brown and Bennett 1992). Findings suggest that variations in the setting in which

the car is parked are associated with different crime rates.


Research Methodology

Research design

The research design is descriptive in nature because we find the different measures which

citizens of Karachi take to avoid being a casualty to street crime.

Data Collection

Data collection is done through convenience data sampling method.

Participants

Sample size was of 150 respondents belonging to different walks of life in an age group

of 20-40 years.

Data Analysis

Data Analysis is done though SPSS software. As the research design is descriptive in

nature, analysis is done through the help of percentages and frequencies.


Results and Analysis

In this part, we will do the descriptive analysis of every question which was part of our

research questionnaire. After going through every question’s analysis, we will have a complete

discussion over all our findings. First part is of demographic questions.


Table 1:

Demographic Analysis of Respondents I

Demographic Variables Frequency Percentage

Gender

Male

Female

Age Brackets

20-25 years

26-30 years

31-35 years

36-40 years

Religion

Muslim

Hindu

Christian

Other

Marital Status

Single

Married

Divorced

Widowed

Separated

98

52

57

49

18

26

133

13

3

1

87

56

2

1

4

65.3

34.7

38

32.7

12

17.3

88.7

8.7

2.0

0.6

58

37.3

1.3

0.7

2.7


As we see in Table 1. Majority of our respondents were male (65.3%), however female

also had a very good representation in our sample. All four age brackets that we divided the

sample into were evenly represented in our sample. Majority of them were Muslims.


Table 2 :

Demographic Analysis of Respondents II

Demographic Variables Frequency Percentage

Highest Level of Education

School/College Graduate

Bachelors Graduate

Masters Graduate

MPhil/Phd Graduate

Employment Status

Self Employed

Full time Employed

Part time Employed

Student

Monthly Income

Less than 20,000

20,000 to 50,000

50,001 to 200,000

200,001 to 500,000

More than 500,000

Years of Living in Karachi

Less than 1 year

1-5 years

6-10 years

11-20 years

More than 20 years

39

51

55

5

26

65

14

45

63

46

29

8

4

8

17

16

34

75

26

34

36.7

3.3

17.3

43.3

9.3

30.1

42

30.7

19.3

5.3

2.7

5.3

11.3

10.7

22.7

50.0


As we can see in Table 2, the other demographics of our respondents were also evenly

matched. All of them were educated, with the level of education being different. Some of them

were Self-employed running their own businesses or small shops in different markets. Employed

people also have a sufficient representation in our sample. Monthly income was also asked from

them in the demographic form to predict in which social class they belong. As the survey was

also taken from small markets too, hence majority of the respondents earned less than twenty

thousand rupees per month. However there were enough number of people earning more than

that in our sample. We also wanted to see since how many years the respondents were living in

Karachi. It is also seen from our analysis that majority of the respondents were living in Karachi

for more than 20 years.


Table 3:

Number of people who have ENCOUNTERED street crime

Have you encountered a street

crime ever?

Frequency Percentage

YES 89 59.3

NO 61 40.7

This was the first question asked on the topic in questionnaire. 59.3 % said yes, they have

encountered a street crime themselves, whereas 40.7 % said no, they haven’t been through this

horrible act of crime, as seen in Table 3.


Table 4:

Number of People who have WITNESSED a street crime

Have you ever witnessed a

street crime?

Frequency Percentage

YES 92 61.3

NO 58 38.7

This was also asked from the respondents that if they had ever witnessed (seen) a street

crime happening on the road. As we can see in table 4, 61.3 % people said yes they have

witnessed it, while 38.7 % said no; they haven’t ever witnessed a street crime.


Table 5:

Pre Measures for avoiding Street Crime

Pre-measures Frequency of taking (in percentages)

Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Hide Money While Travelling

Take routes which are safe

Go Shopping in groups

Take Small amount of money

Avoid Areas prone to street crime

Keep your vehicle all locked

Avoid taking Public Transport

Avoid talking to Strangers

47.3

47.3

20.0

38.7

60.7

80.7

26.0

35.3

23.3

35.3

20.7

38.0

24.0

11.3

27.3

30.0

18.7

11.4

35.3

16.7

9.3

7.3

17.3

17.4

6.7

5.6

12.0

4.0

4.7

0.0

16.7

8.0

4.0

0.7

12.0

2.6

1.3

0.7

12.7

9.3

As we can see in Table 5, eight different measures were identified which people take in

order to save themselves from street crime. The respondents were asked how frequently they

used those in likert scale with Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely and Often as parameters. It is

analyzed that People have mixed reaction on “going to shopping in groups”, Majority of the

people always hide money while travelling, take routes which are safe, take small amount of

money with them, avoid areas which are prone to street crime, keep their vehicle all locked and

avoid talking to strangers. Majority of the people often avoid taking public transport too.


Table 6 :

During and Post-Event Measures when encountering Street Crime

During and Post event measures Frequencies (in percentages)

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Would you Resist?

Would you try to hide any of your possessions?

Would you shout for help?

Would you report to the police afterwards?

Would you take the same route again?

Would you complain to the government?

Would you consider yourself getting armed?

4.7

27.3

12

21.3

7.3

14.0

13.3

14.7

47.3

18.7

31.3

31.3

21.3

24.7

29.3

13.3

30.7

14.7

25.4

26.7

26.0

30.7

8.7

26.0

20.7

21.3

26.0

18.7

20.6

3.4

12.6

12

14.7

12.0

17.3

From Table 6, we can analyze that majority of people disagree to idea of resisting if a

group of criminals attack them and believe that it can result in something really bad. However,

people do say that they will try to hide any one of their possessions if they encounter a street

crime. Majority of the people remain neutral to the idea of shouting help. Majority of people

also say that they will report to the police right afterwards they encounter the street crime, and

they think if they don’t take the same route again, there is a chance that they may not meet such

problem again. Majority of people remain neutral and quite a good number of them totally

disagree to the idea of writing/complaining to the government after they counter a street crime.


We also asked them if they would consider themselves getting armed with licensed weapons.

Majority of people remain neutral, but surprisingly, quite a good number agreed to this idea.

Table 7:

During and Post-Event Measures when witnessing (seeing) Street Crime

Post and During Event Measures Frequency (in percentages)

Strongly Agree


Would you try to intervene and help the victim?

Would you try to ignore and leave the place?

Would you report to the nearest police station?

Would you provide yourself as an eye witness if Police conducts an enquiry?

5.3

16.0

14.7

13.3

21.4

28.0

28.0

26.7

31.3

30.7

19.3

24.7

30.7

20.0

25.3

18.7

11.3

5.3

12.7

16.7

As we can see from Table 5, If people witness a street crime, Majority of them remain

neutral to the idea of helping, same with ignoring the place, however, quite a good number of

people agree to the idea that they should ignore and leave the place quickly. Majority of the

people agree that they will report to the police even if they witness a street crime. Similarly,

greater number of people also says that they will provide themselves as eye witnesses if Police

conducts an enquiry.


Table 8:

Suggestions about Government Measures.

Government Measures Frequency (in percentages)

Strongly Agree


Should there be enough policemen in those areas?

Should there be surveillance through CCTV?

Should there be operation to eliminate these gangs?

Should there be improved street lighting?

Should there be enough resource for Policemen?

34.0

36.7

45.3

42.7

32.7

32.7

33.3

28.7

27.3

25.3

20.0

22.0

18.7

19.3

26.7

11.3

6.0

5.3

7.4

10.0

2.0

2.0

2.0

3.3

5.3

We can see from table 8, Majority of the people agree that there should be more

policemen in areas prone to street crime. Majority of people strongly agree for the idea of

surveillance through CCTVs and operation to eliminate these street crime gangs completely.

Improved Street lighting to reduce street crime at night times and more resources for Policemen

were other ideas, the respondent agreed with strongly.


Discussion

This study was conducted in order to know the public perceptions about the measures

that people living in Karachi take in order to safeguard/avoid them from getting attacked by

street criminals. The measures were classified as pre, post and during the crime. From the results

above, we can safely assume that following measures need to be taken by every citizen of

Karachi in order to curb this crime.

The pre-measures that respondents were in favor of were

Hide Money while traveling


Take small amount of money with you

Avoid areas which are prone to street crime


Avoid taking public transport

Avoid talking to strangers

These measures if taken properly minimize the risk of getting attacked by street

crimes. Not that it guarantees that there will be no street crime, but residents of Karachi have to

make sure that they do it.

The during-event measures are very few. First, the victims of the street crime should

NOT try to resist, because if they do, there is very likely chance of getting shoot by the

criminals, and no one would want to lose their life. If residents of Karachi witness someone else

getting victimized to street crime, it is also wise not to interfere as it might anger the criminals

and they can then shoot anyone and run away.


The Post event measures are really very important as they need to be taken to avoid

street crimes in Karachi.

Reporting to police

Many people don’t take it as they think Police is also involved with these

criminal gangs, but still it is our duty to report if any crime has taken place, either with us, or

even with someone else whom we have witnessed (seen).

Provide as witness

It is also our responsibility to provide ourselves as witness to the street

crime if police is conducting an enquiry. This is a crime that we collectively can eliminate. If we

don’t provide ourselves as witnesses, the police won’t be able to do anything; in return the

criminals will roam easily and keep committing their crimes.

Government measures are also very important to control this street crime. This study

has found that people are not happy with the government measures, and they believe following

measures should also be taken by government to reduce this crime.

More Policemen in areas prone to street crime, the citizens believe that not

enough policemen roam in dangerous areas, which makes the work of

criminals even easier.

Surveillance of these unsafe areas through CCTV. This would help when a

street crime happens in that area, the criminals can be tracked where and how

they came, how they looked, and where they went after victimizing an

innocent citizen of the city.

An operation should also be conducted to eliminate these criminals gangs

completely. Also the open ended questions of the study had responses such as


that operation should only be conducted by Rangers and not police, as people

don’t trust police.

More resources for police, even if some people trust them, they think the

police don’t have enough resources to act against these offenders. So more

resources should be allocated for them.

We can safely say that this street crime can only be reduced if all the citizens living

in Karachi take their responsibility to eliminate it. Even if any stockholder doesn’t fulfill his role,

we won’t be anywhere near enough to curb these gangsters.


Conclusion

Street Crime is the crime that committed in the street or on the road. Though street crimes

are small crimes, they sometimes cause a big harm to the state. They destroy the legal organs of a

state. They cause horror among the people .People do not come out of their houses especially

during the night hours. They do not visit lonely places. The government should take some steps

to check the street crimes. People who are found guilty of such crimes should be punished with

an iron hand. Police must patrol the streets and roads round the clock. Special patrol police units

must be kept ready in various parts of Karachi. A contact between the public and police should

be made easy and quick. Surely, these steps will make an end to street crimes.


References

Clarke, R.V., Mayhew, P. (1980). Designing out Crime. London, England: HMSO

Demuth, C. (1989). Community Safety in Brighton. Brighton Borough Council Police and Public

Safety Unit.

Jones, R.L.(1975). Crime Reduction Through Increased Illumination. National Institute of

Justice, Washington D.C

Laycock, G. & Austin, C. (1992) Crime Prevention in Parking Facilities, Security Journal, 3(1),

154-159

Mayhew. P, Clarke, R, & Hough, M. (1980) ‘Steering column locks and car theft’, Clarke, R. &

Mayhew, P. (eds) Designing out Crime.London: HMSO

Poyner, B, & Webb, B.(1991) Crime Free Housing. Oxford: Butterworth Architecture.

Safe Neighbourhoods Unit (1989). Lighting Up Brent. SNU, London

Southall, D. & Ekblom, P. (1986) Designing for Car Security: towards a crime free car. Crime

Prevention Unit Paper 4. London: Home Office

Southall, D. and Galer, M. (1985). The Crime-Free Car: A Feasibility Study. Loughborough:

Institute for Consumer Ergonomics.

Wright, R., Heilweil, M., Pelletier P., Dickinson, K. (1974). The Impact of Street Lighting on

Crime (Part I).University of Michighan for the National Institute of Law Enforcement and

Criminal Justice.


Appendix

The appendix includes the questionnaire along with the consent form and

demographic form which was used to conduct this research study. About 150 respondents filled

out the questionnaires, after which the results were analyzed through SPSS.


Street Crime in Karachi : Measures to Avoid it

Consent form for Survey Research

Dear Participant,

You are invited to participate in a research study being conducted by myself, Afaq Ahmed Soomro in my course (Advanced Quantitative Research) at IoBM,Karachi.

The purpose of the research is to determine :

What measures/actions Citizens of Karachi take in order to save/avoid them from Street Crime (theft/mugging of Cellphones, money, vehicles, Jewelry and any other property)

The enclosed questionnaire has been designed to collect information on the above mentioned topic.

Your participation in this research project is completely voluntary. You may decline altogether, or leave blank any questions you don’t wish to answer. Your responses will be confidential and data from this research will be reported only as a collective combined total.

If you agree to participate in this project, please answer the questions on the questionnaire as best as you can. It should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions about this project, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Thank you for your assistance in this important endeavor.

Participant Name: ______________________(optional)

Participant Signature: ___________________________

Date: _______________

Sincerely Yours,

Researcher

Afaq Ahmed Soomro

Phd Student , IOBM Karachi


Demographic Information Form

Instructions: Please provide a response for each of the following questions

1. What is your age?

20-25 years 26-30 years 31-35 years 36-40 years

2. What is your gender?

Female Male

3. What is your marital status?

Single Married Separated Divorced Widowed

4. What is your Religion?

Muslim Hindu Christian Any other _____________

5. What is the highest level of education you have completed?


School/College Graduate Bachelors Graduate Masters Graduate M.Phil/ Phd Graduate

6. What is your employment status?

Self employed Full time employed Part time employed Student

7. What is your monthly income?

Less than 20,000 20,001 to 50,000 50,001 to 200,000 200,001 to 500,000 Greater than 500,000

8. Since how many years you are residing in Karachi?

Less than 1 year 1-5 years 6-10 years 11-20 years More than 20 years

Questions related to the topic “Street Crime in Karachi : Ways to Avoid it “

Street Crime is defined as an act of mugging or theft from victims in the street where their property(smartphones, money, jewelry etc ) is snatched (mainly on gunpoint).


1. Have you ever encountered a street crime (theft of car/mobile/money etc)?Yes No

2. Have you ever witnessed a street crime (theft of car/mobile/money etc)?

Yes No

Tick the box for measures that you usually take in order to protect yourself from Street Crime.

Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Hide Money while Travelling


Go Shopping in groups

Take small amount of money with you

Avoid areas which are prone to Street Crime


Avoid taking public transport

Avoid talking to strangers

Any Other

____________________________________

Tick mark your response to the following questions.

Strongly Agree


If you encounter a street crime,


(i) Would you resist?

(ii) Would you try to hide any of your possessions?

(iii) Would you shout for help?

(iv) Would you report to the police afterwards?

(v) Would you take the same route again?

(vi) Would you write/complain to the government and other law enforcement agencies?

(vii) Would you consider yourself getting armed?

If you witness a street crime ,

(i) Would you try to intervene & help the victim?

(ii) Would you try to ignore the crime and leave the place/street quickly?

(iii) Would you report to the nearest police station?

(iv) Would you provide yourself as an eye witness if Police conducts an enquiry

Tick mark your response to the following measures of government to reduce street crime


Strongly Agree


Should there be Enough Policemen in areas prone to Street Crime

Should there be Surveillance of Areas through CCTV

Should there be Operation to eliminate these street crime gangs completely

Should there be Improved street lighting to reduce street crime at Night

Should there be Enough Resources for policemen to act

What more you can do to keep yourself safe from street crime

Thank you very much for your time.

street crime in karachi report afaq18191

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