Burglary
Preventing Residential Burglary in Cambridge: From Crime Audits to Targeted Strategies
Police Research Series Paper 108 (1999) by T. Bennett and L. Durie
This report describes work undertaken by Cambridgeshire Police in conjunction with the Cambridge Domestic Burglary Task Force to design and implement a strategy to counter domestic burglary in the city.
The main findings of the data-gathering stage were that residential burglary in Cambridge was concentrated within specific wards to the north of the city and within specific ‘hot spots’ within these wards, each of which were characterised by high levels of repeat victimisation.
There was some evidence that residential burglaries in the area were committed by local youths who lived in the same or adjacent wards and who selected the target areas as a result of convenience, easy access through footpaths and alleyways, and the perceived abundance of suitable targets.
A number of different types of interventions were used:
Projects aimed at potential victims
Cocoon neighbourhood watch
Loan alarm scheme
Security advice to victims
KeepSafe (fitting additional security locks)
GateSafe (fitting additional external gates)
Security pack to residents
Projects aimed at potential capable guardians
Post Watch
Enhanced neighbourhood watch
Community seminar
Community Centre Information Link
Targeted police patrols
Projects aimed at potential offenders
Youth Development project
Burglaries reduced in the targeted wards and in the targeted ‘hot spot’ and repeat burglaries reduced in one of the targeted wards. However, burglary also reduced generally by the same or greater amounts in the City as a whole, and in the various comparison areas. It was concluded that the most likely causes of this reduction were wider developments in policing and economic and social factors that were affecting property crime generally.
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Last update: 12/03/03