Which method is known for reducing opportunities to commit crime by making it more difficult?

The correct answer is situational crime prevention, which focuses on reducing opportunities for crime by altering the environment to make it more challenging for offenders to commit illicit acts. This method involves implementing strategies that can include increasing surveillance, improving lighting, using design features in urban planning that discourage crime, or using technology such as alarm systems. By making the circumstances less favorable for criminal activity, situational crime prevention aims to deter potential offenders based on the obstacles encountered rather than on the fear of punishment.

Specific deterrence and general deterrence primarily center on the psychological impacts of the threat of punishment—specific deterrence targets individual offenders to prevent them from reoffending, while general deterrence aims to discourage the broader population from engaging in crime based on the consequences displayed to others. Community policing, on the other hand, is a strategy focused on building positive relationships between law enforcement and communities to collaboratively address crime and safety issues, yet it does not specifically target the reduction of opportunities to commit crime in the same direct manner as situational crime prevention.