The Reducing Burglary Initiative: Investigating Burglary

Burglary

The Reducing Burglary Initiative: Investigating Burglary

This document is published for archival/historical purposes. It will not be updated.

In 1999 the Home Office announced the Reducing Burglary Initiative as part of the Crime Reduction Programme. The first round of projects have now been completed and intensively evaluated. This report focuses on the evaluation of three projects where improving police investigative performance was the key strategy.

Title: The Reducing Burglary Initiative: Investigating Burglary
Author: Jessica Jacobson, Lee Maitland and Mike Hough
Series: Home Office Research Study 264
Date published: June 2003
Number of pages:

The main aims of the programme were to:

Reduce burglary nationally by targeting areas with the worst domestic burglary problems;
Evaluate the cost effectiveness of the different approaches;
Find out what works best where
The aims of this particular study were:
To explore the nature of the investigative process with respect to burglary: that is, to identify the main components of investigation, and to consider how the process can be changed
To use these findings to develop general principles for the effective investigation of burglary.
It examines the policing of burglary in: Oxford, Chiltern Vale and Coventry. The research grew out of Home Office evaluations of burglary Strategic Development Projects (SDP's) in the three sites.
The research involved a review of the data gathered as part of the local SDP evaluation and the collection of further information on police enforcement practices and recent burglary investigations. A latter phase of the research comprised of:
Examination of case studies of burglary investigations
Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with police officers involved in the investigation of burglary
Observations of investigative work
The main findings of the report was
The investigation of burglary should not be characterised as a simple, step by step process. Rather, the processs of investigation should be understood to be complex, dynamic and multi-layered
Proactive policing methods can make an important contribution to effective investigative practice but they should not do so at the expense of reactive police approaches. Proactive and reactive approaches to investigation are inter-dependant and complementary.
Three broad principles for effective investigative work were also identified:
- Routine - the often complex and dynamic nature of burglary investigation makes it essential that certain key elements of the process are carried out in a systematic and routine fashion.
- Simplicity - the investigation of burglary tends to be a complex process but investigative work can also be most effective when police officers respond in relatively simple ways to the situations and chains of events on which their enquiries are focused. In particular, given the lack of sophistication of most prolific burglars, basic investigative actions may often prove highly rewarding
- Flexibility - this is of critical importance in order that information is gathered, recorded, communicated and acted upon in a way that is responsive to investigative opportunities as and when these present themselves

Download " Reducing Burglary Initiative: early findings on burglary reduction - Summary " PDF 51Kb

Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Burglary

The Reducing Burglary Initiative: Investigating Burglary

Related Links