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Reducing crime an overview analysis

This report aims to outline the evidence to explain what we understand about crime and what we understand about interventions to tackle crime. It is a high level summary of the types of offences and offenders who are responsible for the majority of crime.

Title: Reducing crime - an overview analysis
Authors: Home Office Strategic Policy Team
Number of pages: 43
Date published: March 2006
Availability: Download full slidepack PDF 397Kb

The full report contains a number of slides, each of which present a premise supported by evidence in the form of statistics and extracts from other publications. The points made in the report are reproduced below.

Understanding crime patterns

• All major types of volume crime are being driven down

• Surveys indicate that crimes against businesses are also lower than ten years ago

• Fear of crime is also falling, contrary to some popular conceptions

• Concern about anti-social behaviour is now falling

• Over the last ten years violent crime has fallen in most categories – crime by domestic partners and acquaintances has fallen substantially, but by violent crime by strangers has remained fairly constant.

Britain is changing -and as we change so do the patterns of crime But despite the reductions in crime, we estimate that crime against individuals and households still accounts for over £36 billion worth of 'harm' The cost of crime to individuals and households has reduced since 2000 These harms are concentrated in certain geographical areas, particularly deprived areas (see right) Certain groups and individuals are more likely to be victimised/targeted, a significant proportion of whom are victimised more than once during the year

Understanding offenders

• Around 1 in 10 people report having committing at least one crime in the previous year, 4 in 10 over their lifetime

• Although a large number of people commit some offence during a year, a relatively small number of prolific offenders commit the majority..

• Offending is highest among young men in their late teens, particularly for violence and non-injury assault

Understanding the causes of crime

• Crime levels are determined by a mixture of personal and environmental factors: early development, lifestyle and opportunities, aggravating factors and the opportunities and deterrents to offending

• These factors will be influenced by a variety of external conditions, particularly criminal networks, community characteristics and economic conditions

• Risk Factors for offenders:

  • Family

  • School

  • Individul/peer

  • Early adulthood

  • Community

• Drugs and alcohol misuse also increase the likelihood of offending

• While the Criminal Justice System as a whole has a deterrent effect, the marginal effect produced by individual policies or interventions is harder to estimate.

• Community disorganisation can create an atmosphere where crime is tolerated. Strong communities can help to reduce crime through informal social monitoring and control.

• The activities of organised crime groups range over a vast area, from drugs and organised immigration crime, through evasion of VAT and excise duties, financial and business fraud to intellectual property theft or counterfeiting.

Overview of Government interventions

• The Government intervenes to reduce crime at a range of points

• On current plans, it estimates that interventions should reduce crime by 2008

Specific interventions

• Early years development : focusing interventions such as Sure Start on those at greatest risk

• Personalised programmes for those with severe behavioural problems/early offending; and broader measures to reduce 'risky lifestyles' for the majority

• Tackling binge drinking. Targeted solutions offer the greatest promise in addressing these problems, although they require significant resources and commitment

• Reducing the harm caused by illegal drugs: Expanding drug treatment and increasing the number of drug misusing offending entering treatment though the CJS should reduce drug-related crime.

• The transformation of the police services into a thoroughly problem-orientated service will greatly enhance its potential to reduce crime

• Tackling serious and organised crime: The new Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) will have as its core objective reducing the harm caused to the UK and its citizens by organised crime including the trafficking of drugs and people.

• Reform of the CJS driving greater efficiency and effectiveness: effectiveness: The Criminal Case Management Programme is a key component of criminal justice reform. Its aim is to join up the improvements being made across agencies, ensuring a coherent and more co-ordinated approach to criminal case management as a whole.

• NOMS offers the opportunity to improve the effectiveness of interventions through end-to-end offender management, particularly for prolific offenders, but needs to be complemented by wider inclusion of offenders

• Deterring crime works best when a critical mass of interventions is delivered in crime hot-spots: stronger communities, environmental improvements and enforcement resources

Delivering crime interventions

• Effectiveness relies as much on effectively targeting interventions and carefully managing implementation as on the intervention per se

Getting a copy

Download Reducing crime - an overview analysis PDF 397Kb

Last update: 15 March 2006