Design and Security
Paul Ekblom · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · 2014
Consider an elementary security problem: theft of customers’ bags in bars. Consider also an equally elementary practical solution: mounting clips beneath bar tables to secure bags by preventing thieves from moving them stealthily along the floor with their foot or lifting them off chairbacks while customers chat with their companions. Faced with high bag theft rates, in London, several years ago, the police developed the ‘Chelsea clip’, 1 a plastic fixture screwed under bar tables for anchoring customers’ bags. The police enthusiastically promoted the clip and many were installed. However, an observational survey of a major shopping/entertainment locale in London (Upper Street, Islington) revealed that few were in use. A similar picture emerged more recently from research at a venue at London’s Victoria Station. 2 Moreover, during the three-month period of observation by researchers from Central Saint Martins, just one Chelsea clip was found to be in use. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.