Crime and Security Science

Crime and security science applies scientific methods and ways of thinking to the study of crime, criminal justice, and security. Rather than approaching these subjects purely through sociology or law, crime and security science asks what evidence-based science can contribute to understanding why crimes occur, how they can be prevented, how offenders behave, and how security systems and policies can be designed to be more effective. The discipline draws on criminology, psychology, geography, statistics, and physical sciences, and it has particular applications in areas such as forensic science, crime mapping, surveillance technology, counterterrorism, and the design of environments that reduce criminal opportunity.

At University College London, this three-year full-time programme is unusually placed in a science faculty, giving it a distinctively empirical and quantitative orientation compared with most criminology programmes. You will study the science of crime and security with an emphasis on measurement, evidence, and the critical evaluation of what interventions actually work. You will learn about environmental criminology, the geography of crime, psychological profiling, security system design, the use of data in policing, and the ethical dimensions of surveillance and security policy.

UCL's research in this area is among the most internationally significant in the world, and undergraduate students benefit from proximity to this active scholarly community.

London provides an extraordinary context for studying crime and security: a global city with its own complex patterns of crime, terrorism, and policing, as well as proximity to government, the police, the security services, and the full range of organisations that engage with crime and security questions.

Graduates work in the police, intelligence agencies, government, security consultancy, crime analysis, public health, local government, forensic science, and academic research. Postgraduate study in crime science, security studies, or related social sciences is a natural further step.