Arson
Arson Terminology
Understanding precisely what we mean when we talk about arson or deliberate fire setting is the first step in developing effective measures to tackle it. This report explores the current recording practices for arson used by the police and the fire and rescue services and looks at the specific problems raised by the current terminology.
Title: Arson Terminology
Author: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Date published: June 2005
Number of pages: 24
Availability: Download full report 
PDF 251Kb
Police and fire and rescue service measures of arson are completely different. The police record around 60,000 arsons each year in England and Wales compared to 100,000 deliberate primary fires attended by the fire and rescue service in 2003/04. Neither measure captures the "true extent" of arson, although the higher number of incidents recorded by the fire and rescue service is likely to be a more accurate picture.
Current recording practices
The problem of lack of a common measure of arson is compounded by difficulties caused by the terminology used by the fire and rescue service.
The fire and rescue services collect data on primary fires using a 'Fire Data Report 1' (FDR1) form. The form currently includes 3 categories of cause which, when combined, make up the arson measure: deliberate, doubtful and malicious.
The Arson Scoping Study and the Joint Review of Arson Reduction Partnerships showed that it is these terms that can create confusion. For example, the police may misinterpret 'doubtful' to mean that the fire and rescue service was unsure as to what caused the fire; whereas it actually means that the fire is suspicious. The term 'malicious' is also thought to be problematic in legal proceedings.
The FDR1 form is currently under review and it is likely that 'malicious' and 'doubtful', will just be recorded as 'deliberate'.
Terminology: problems
In a legal context
The term malicious is problematic in legal proceedings because it has a particular legal meaning.
To act "maliciously" means that a defendant has mens rea (a guilty mind) by intending all the circumstances and consequences comprising the non-mental elements of the crime he or she is charged with; or being reckless as to the occurrence of the crime.
The fire investigator who uses "deliberate" instead of "malicious" would still be a valuable witness in arson cases, since the FI's evidence would be that objective matters such as the use of accelerant still demonstrated deliberate conduct. A question does arise however, whether they are considered expert witnesses or non-expert. One legal representative believes fire and police officers should not be able to give interpretive evidence as 'experts' but only factual information. Others believe it should be for the judge to decide if the fire or police officer is an expert.
Terminology: solutions
A number of alternative terminologies have been proposed that would avoid the problems discussed above.
The most common suggestions were "deliberate, accidental and not known", which legal representatives have confirmed won't be problematic in legal proceedings.
Other, arguably less practical suggestions included "accidental" and "potentially criminal"; and "accidental" and "deliberate" where "deliberate" is split into two, (i) "with intent" and (ii) "without intent", the latter being used to describe situations where, for example, a bonfire is left unsupervised and causes further damage. The terms "potential criminal" and "with intent" would trigger further investigation. The rationale for these suggestions was that it would lead to increased police recognition and understanding of the issues. Theses terms may however be open to the same legal challenge as the terms "malicious" and "doubtful".
Several practitioners said they would welcome a lower level offence of 'fire setting'. The rationale was that the term "arson" conjures up an impression of seriousness and that a lower level offence would allow for remedial activity with offenders earlier in their offending careers
Further issues on partnership working and fire investigations and can be found in the full report below.
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Last update: Friday, July 25, 2008