Burglary
Operation Anchorage: Intelligence-led Policing in Australia
This document is published for archival/historical purposes. It will not be updated.
Operation Anchorage, a recent Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Policing campaign targeting burglary, has been recognised by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) as an excellent example of intelligence-led policing. The four-month burglary campaign, which ran from February to July 2001, was driven by a large intelligence cell, enabling police to target burglary hot spots and prolific offenders. It led to a 19% reduction of the local burglary rate in the face of increases in every other force in the country.
Burglary is a significant issue in most urban areas and many agencies are involved in efforts to combat the problem. The police are one such agency that relies on accurate and rigorous analysis of crime and offender data to focus their available resources. The Australian Institute of Criminology has been working with a number of police services to better understand patterns of offending and criminal behaviour across Australia.
In a report on Policing Urban Burglary, it was said that intelligence-led policing was a term used and abused widely across Australia but Operation Anchorage reached the core of what intelligence-led policing is about. Armed with intelligence, ACT Police continue to make major inroads in reducing the burglary rate. They have had the most successful year ever and continue to build on that success through the efforts of intelligence-led police patrols and special pro-active teams.
The latest statistics show that the local burglary rate is down 19.6 per cent. At the end of last financial year, Operation Anchorage had led to a 21 per cent reduction in burglaries, the largest ever reduction in burglary rates achieved by ACT Policing. When compared with the increase in burglaries in every other mainland force in Australia during the period, Operation Anchorage represents a significant achievement.
This paper presents a spatial and temporal analysis of burglary patterns in the Australian Capital Territory and then discusses issues surrounding Operation Anchorage, a burglary reduction operation recently conducted by the Australian Federal Police. Some of the complexities in developing an effective crime reduction strategy are discussed in relation to both Operation Anchorage and other policing initiatives.
Download the Australian Institute of Criminology's report on Operation Anchorage
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Last update: Wednesday, August 27, 2008