12
Aug
2014
By Calvin at 10:22 GMT, 11 years ago
From August, officers and Neighbourhood Watch volunteers across the county will visit people living close to the scenes of break-ins within days of the crime to warn them about what has happened, show them how they can make sure their home is secure and gather information that could help catch offenders.
The tactic has been trialled in Hove where a dramatic reduction in burglaries in the area has followed and is now being rolled out across the force.
It is part of Operation Magpie, Sussex Police's crackdown on burglary across the county.
Inspector Nick Dias said: "Burglars try to maximise the amount they get from their crime while minimising the time they have to find looking for a house to break into and the chance of them being caught.
"By warning local people when there has been a burglary we can not only reduce the chance of them becoming a victim but also force the offender to take more of a risk to commit crime.
"That means the burglar may move to an area they do not know well so they are more likely to leave evidence behind at the scene or to be caught in the act.
During the 24-week trial in Hove from August 2013, the number of burglaries fell by 51% compared to the same period a year earlier - a drop from 263 to 120.
Across the rest of the force the number of burglaries fell by 21% during the same period.
In Hove, 90% of people visited said they were more likely to report suspicious behaviour to the police after the trial and 70% increased their home security following a visit from police.
The county's Police & Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, has welcomed the initiative, which maximises face-to-face contact between the public, the police and community volunteers.
She said: "I know burglary is a concern for local people, not least because it has a deep, personal impact on victims.
"I am pleased to see Sussex Police using innovative crime-fighting techniques that help catch burglars and sees officers working with Neighbourhood Watch to advise the public on how they can protect their property.
John Wright, the chair of Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation, said: "Neighbourhood Watch has been involved in Operation Magpie since it started. I am delighted that we are taking an active part to help our partners in Sussex Police in keeping our homes and streets safe; places where crime cannot flourish, with communities that care."
If you have any information about burglaries, please call 101 or email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk
For crime prevention advice visit www.sussex.police.uk
TCPW Comment I am so pleased to see Sussex police taking this step to prevent burglary. This programme of door knocking, warning and advising is a well-tried and tested means of preventing what criminologists term ‘repeat victimisation’, initially developed by Professor Ken Pease, a friend of this website.
Obviously, PCC Katy Bourne doesn’t know this, which is why I would disagree with her that this method to prevent crime is ‘innovative’. I first did this myself in Ealing back in 1995 with the help of neighbourhood watchers and local ‘home beat’ police officers. We had equally excellent results and repeated the initiative many times over.
The only problem was that it was labour intensive and that’s why it’s great to see neighbourhood watch volunteers helping out.
Several criminological studies of crime data reveal that once we become the victim of a crime (in this case burglary) our chances of suffering another burglary straight afterwards are higher than the chances of suffering the first. This increased likelihood of burglary quickly drops off with time, but the rate doesn’t settle back to the original pre-burglary chance for several months.
Why should this be the case?
Well, there could be several reasons, but the obvious ones are that:
- The same thieves return to steal items of property they were unable to take during the first burglary, possibly bringing a vehicle on the second occasion
- The same thieves return, knowing that certain items have been replaced by the householder after claiming on their home contents insurance
- Different thieves take advantage of the same security weaknesses. These thieves may have spotted these security weaknesses for themselves or may have been told about them by the first thieves
It has also been established that once a burglary has occurred at one house along a street, the risks also go up for neighbouring dwellings.
This may be because of some environmental design issue, such as an ungated alleyway running to the rear of terraced housing – hence my development of The Alleygater’s Guide to Gating Alleys
Sometimes common design features shared by similar houses along a street can lead to ‘repeats’, such as ungated side accesses between semi-detached homes and deeply recessed front entrances. On new housing estates, which will have the same locks on all the entrance doors (albeit different keys) burglars, who like to attack the lock cylinders, will have a field day, because the MO will be identical for each dwelling. This is why you need an alarm and should upgrade your lock cylinders, if they’re not anti-bump and attack resistant.
This well researched theory of Repeat Victimisation has important messages for both the householder and the police service. It is pretty obvious that the victimised householder should react immediately and increase their home security and it is also essential that the police not only provide the victim with the necessary information to enable them to improve their security arrangements, but also to tell them precisely why an improvement to their security is essential – forewarned is forearmed!
It is for these reasons why I applaud this initiative. I only wish it was done more often!
Anti-bump lock cylinders: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/directory/l74/sls-midlands-ltd/
Alarms: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/directory/2/alarm-systems/
