Burglary
Burglary: Practice Messages from The British Crime Survey
This document is published for archival/historical purposes. It will not be updated.
This briefing note has been published by the Home Office to help practitioners prioritise their burglary reduction activities. Much of the statistical information in the briefing note was contained in the main report of the British Crime Survey (BCS) 2000, but here implications for local crime reduction practice are made explicit.
The briefing:
identifies areas and households with particularly high risks of burglary victimisation, suggesting where local problems may be concentrated. It makes clear that both individual and area characteristics contribute to vulnerability to burglary and, unless both are addressed, those at high risk might not be afforded the help they need.
considers the extent of repeat victimisation, highlighting it as a prime opportunity for highly targeted burglary reduction initiatives. Repeat victimisation flags those households and those areas for which local attention is most urgently needed.
examines how burglars gain entry to homes and suggests that this could provide a baseline against which to measure local experience. It is also important in terms of advice about crime prevention measures.
evaluates the effectiveness of home security devices, comparing levels of security in homes burgled with security in homes that were not burgled. BCS results have shown that basic security measures are effective in reducing risk. As many households identified as high risk have less well secured homes, concentrating efforts on these households in terms of home security is worth consideration.
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Last update: Wednesday, August 27, 2008