UCL Department of Security and Crime Science

Lucía graduated in 1999 from the University of Sussex with a BSc (Hons) degree in Experimental Psychology. After this, she completed an MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology (2002, University of Leicester), an MSc in Research Methods for Psychology (2003, University College London) and a PG Cert in Learning and Teaching at Higher Education (2006, University of East London).
Since joining the Jill Dando Institute in 2003, Lucía has carried out research on a range of areas but her main interests lie in the prevention and improved detection of serious violence, which is the topic of her PhD (currently being completed). She is also interested in the study of offender decision making (in relation to both violence and property crime), especially in relation to the spatial and temporal aspects of criminal activity.  

Recent Publications

Summers, L. (2010). Virtual repeats and near repeats. In B. S. Fisher and S.P. Lab (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention. London: Sage.

Summers, L.; Johnson, S.D. & Rengert, G.F. (2010). The use of maps in offender interviewing. In W. Bernasco (Ed.), Offenders on Offending: Learning about crime from criminals. Cullompton, Devon: Willan.

Summers, L. (2009). Las técnicas de prevención situacional del delito aplicadas a la delincuencia juvenil. [Situational prevention techniques applied to the problem of youth crime.] Revista de Derecho Penal y Criminología, 1, 395-409. [Spanish]

Johnson, S.D.; Summers, L. & Pease, K. (2009). Offender as forager? A direct test of the boost account of victimization. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25(2), 181-200.

Summers, L. (2007). La medición estadística de las pautas espacio-temporales del delito. [The statistical measurement of spatio-temporal crime patterns.] Boletín Criminológico, 100. Available online. [Spanish]

Summers, L.; Johnson, S.D. & Pease, K. (2007). El contagio de robos de vehículos y sustracciones de objetos en vehículos: Aplicaciones de técnicas epidemiológicas. [The contagion of theft of and theft from motor vehicles: Applications of epidemiological techniques.] Revista Española de Investigación Criminológica, 5, artículo 1. Available online. [Spanish]

Improving the Prevention and Detection of Homicide in Public Spaces: A situational crime prevention approach.

Duration: January 2005 - December 2010

Project Overview
The main aims of this project are to:

1. To develop a typology for homicides occurring in public spaces, based on situational and environmental factors.
2. To identify the situational and environmental factors that are associated with the occurrence of these offences, the outcome of the offence (i.e. homicide vs. attempted murder) and the offence detection status (i.e. detected vs. undetected).
3. To determine the level of awareness of these factors by police staff and the general public.

The research will be divided into three distinct parts, as follows:

1. secondary data analysis on computerised and paper file police data of homicide and attempted murder cases;
2. semi-structured interviews with a sample of offenders convicted of homicide or attempted murder; and
3. a survey intended to measure perceptions of victimisation risk in different geographic and situational circumstances. This survey will be administered to a sample drawn from the general public and also to criminal justice staff.

The theoretical framework of the present study will be situated within environmental theories of crime prevention. These include defensible space (Newman, 1973, 1996), crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED; Crowe, 2000), place theories (Eck, 1997; Eck & Weisburd, 1995) and situational crime prevention approaches (Clarke, 1997). These theories are all largely based on opportunity theories, such as rational choice perspectives (see Felson & Clarke, 1998) and crime pattern theory (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1993).

Public spaces are defined as areas to which the general public have right of access. Relevant CRIS categories for venue location codes include: Alleyway, Footpath; Footbridge/Walkway; Gravel Pit/Quarry; Motorway; Pedestrian Precinct; River/Lake/Canal etc.; Riverside vicinity; Road/Rail Bridge; Street; Subway; and Telephone Kiosk.