Village of the Damned

As you know I was a police officer for 30 years during the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties. I was involved in all sorts of policing from 'walking the beat' to driving fast cars to standing behind a riot shield during the disturbances at Brixton, Broadwater Farm and Southall (I was set on fire twice by petrol bombs). But I was also involved in monitoring the vice and porn industry which ballooned with the advent of affordable video cameras. And I worked in training and training design at Hendon Police College. 

But where I found my real area of interest was crime science. And by that I mean understanding how criminals think and discovering ways to demotivate them. I also became interested in ways to change the behaviour of victims to make them less likely to be targeted. 

While the victim of a crime is not to blame - the bad guy is always responsible - we nevertheless all have to take some responsibility for our own safety. It's not a perfect world and never has been. This sad but undeniable truth led me into the study of what was then called Behavioural Economics - the art of creating subtle 'nudges' that influence people's behaviour for the better. It's not coercion or mind-control - it's influencing behaviour change and the person being nudged always has the option to ignore it. 

You know when you're booking a holiday online or looking to buy something and a pop up suddenly appears saying 'Five other people have this in their baskets' or 'Only seven left'? They're nudges. They drill into your FOMO (fear of missing out) and gently encourage you to hit 'Buy'. Another nudge is when you see footprints painted on the steps of an escalator. People unconsciously follow the cues and stand on these footprints, which helps reduce congestion. 

This was a world that totally took over my life for 12 years and I ended up working with the Home Office and traveling all over the UK and overseas to teach the subject and to speak at conferences - the most recent was Belfast (see here). And I now do this as my 'day job' as a university lecturer (because foraging, taking part in folk festivals and writing books don't pay the bills). 

One of the fundamentals when considering how to stop bad things from happening is to accept that elimination is probably not an option. Unless the problem or the crime is being committed by a single individual who can be removed or disempowered, the likelihood is that the best you can do is to reduce how often the problem occurs. Sometimes, however, it's all but impossible to achieve even this. In those circumstances you aim to reduce how seriously the problem impacts on people or, if the problem occurs randomly - such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters - you can put contingency plans in place to minimise harm. 

I see examples of all kinds of harm reduction every day. But perhaps one of the oddest I've seen in recent years is in the nearby villages of Iver and Denham - home to the world-famous Pinewood Studios. 

It's these bollards, designed to make drivers slow down.

These fibreglass schoolchildren, painted to look like they are wearing the local primary school's uniform, are fitted over the top of concrete bollards. But do they work? If stories in local newspapers are anything to go by - yes. But not in the way intended. 

People are slowing down but not because they think they're real children. It's because they are so creepy that drivers slow right down to get a closer look. Local residents, however, are less enthusiastic. 'They are creepy and hideous,' said resident Jonny Baker. 'I look out of my window every morning and these are what I see. They're absolutely terrifying'. Another person told Metro, 'It's the blankly staring eyes. The eyes really get me spooked.'

It's all a bit Midwich isn't it?