Combating Street Mugging

Introduction

Mugging, particularly in the London streets, has become a menace over the past few years. The data from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime dashboard and Metropolitan Police indicate a sharp rise in the mugging in 2018/19. Between August 2018 and September 2019, there were 53,966 reported incidents of ‘theft from person’ are rise by 56% from 2015/16 figures (34,626 incidents) (Boscia, 2019). Similarly, the moped mugging, where the thieves riding mopeds to phones, handbags, raids pedestrians, and acid attacks in addition to mugging personal belongs, has soared considerably. The growing problem has led call for a strict policing, solving homelessness, and reducing unemployment, as well as use of high-tech water pistols as tactics of combating the criminals but those proposed approaches are arguably long term and, so far, have not had a positive outcome, evident by growing reported incidents of mugging (). As such, this project focused on the tackling the problem of mugging by deterring its occurrence. The approach involved development of an anti-mugging device as a technique to fight the mugging. The approach incorporates taking in other stakeholders such as recruiting homeless and including the public in using the device. In this reflective essay, Gibbs reflective cycle is used. The cycle developed by American sociologist and psychologist, Graham Gibbs, encourages people to thinks in a systematic manner about their specific experiences encountered during an activity, event, or situation, in this case, development of anti-mugging devices.

Description

Before development process, the initial stage encompassing problem identification, data collection, and audience target. Initially, it was agreed that taking setting short terms goals then working categorically through subdividing tasks in a form of baby-steps. The creation process and development process was inspired by simplicity and affordability of the products to the larger community and target group. For instance, it was perceived that incorporating a GPS enabling tracking would make the product too expensive given that target segment included the homeless, individuals with low and limited purchasing power. The product development relied heavily on the coordination and working together of team members through distributed tasks. For instance, financing process demanded pulling resources together to fund not only the development process but marketing and distribution of the product. As team member, I was tasked with creating posters used for product awareness. In poster development, I was driven by need incorporate core and necessary information for the consumers and potential buyers to know the usefulness of the products, hence leading to developing an urge to buy and use.

While undertaking the project, several challenges were experienced. First, it was financing the product. As pointed by Cowling et al. (2012), one can have the greatest idea but implementation demands imputing ranging from mobilizing resources, marketing, sourcing building blocks, and recruiting distributors, which demands financial input. In this case, Equity Finance Grant was outsourced to finance the business. Other tasks involved identifying risks involved in segmenting the products in a position that would lead to business success, that include product uniqueness, making sure the target consumers buy into the idea, awareness, as well as marketing. However, fundamental to all this is collecting data related to the mugging, such that informing the decision such as the product to be developed, the financial solution to be adopted, marketing approach, who and number to be recruitment, and the pictures and information to be included in the poster. To a large extent, the data, as evidence, had a fundamental effect in decision making that include changing the initial approach such as, not using GPS, number of employees, and homeless recruitment.

The perspective taken was that in such a crises of growing mugging and violence conduct across the city, finding the support in a form of right people, individuals sharing the same concerns and approach of dealing with the problem, marketing, product awareness, identifying the consumers and incorporating the homeless people, product development to capture the right audience such that is affordable and at a right price for the target consumers. As a solution, we had to remove the GPS in order to lower the price not to be too expensive.

Within my role, it was challenges putting together the information relevant enough to the potential users and consumer. Such features as presentability, attractiveness, eye-catching, engaging, in additional to ensuring that the potential consumer could remember the products were fundamental and needed put in mind during poster creation. Through engagement and brainstorming, as a team, I was able to settle on items and pictures to use. In addition to involving and taking opinion from other team members regarding the creation of posters, such elements such as goal, audience, imagery, formatting, and structure of the pictures and information played a core role in decision making and development process.

Generally, given the growing concerns of the increased mugging across the country, I believe the approach, developing an anti-mugging device was justified and ideal solution. However, given a second chance, marketing and social awareness could be more engaging and detailed that include seeking

Conclusion

Ideally, the whole concept of the project was to capture the established social problem, mugging, and proposing a lasting solution. The approach to the problem revolves around developing an anti-mugging device aimed at deterring mugging. Each member of team had specific tasks ranging from data gathering, coordination, marketing, and recruiting users, homeless people. Creating posters, the role I took, entailed understanding the consumers’ needs then putting up a visual representation of the product in a manner that captures the product importance and usefulness while relating to solution to users’ needs. The project was divided into tasks. Each member of the team was given specific tasks collectively, the team aimed to come up with an effective solution to the menace. The aims was deriving an approach that includes the others affected individuals.

Action plan

The approach adopted linked:

Data gathering

Marketing and distribution of the product

Recruitment of homeless people

Social awareness (posters, pictures, and distribution) distribution networks using homeless people, training them

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References

Boscia, S. (2019). Muggings and robbery have shot up in London since 2015. [online] CityAM. Available at: https://www.cityam.com/muggings-and-robbery-have-shot-up-in-london-since-2015/ [Accessed 19 Jan. 2020].

Cowling, M., Liu, W. and Ledger, A., 2012. Small business financing in the UK before and during the current financial crisis. International Small Business Journal, 30(7), pp.778-800.

Hellmann, T. and Puri, M., 2000. The interaction between product market and financing strategy: The role of venture capital. The review of financial studies, 13(4), pp.959-984.

Scully, E. (2019). Moped crime in London HALVES year after police started tougher tactics. [online] Mail Online. Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7420343/Moped-crime-London-HALVES-year-police-started-ramming-suspects-bikes.html [Accessed 19 Jan. 2020].