Burglary
Evaluation of the Leeds Distraction Burglary Project
This report evaluates the Leeds Distraction Burglary Initiative (LDBI), which was a two-year crime reduction project designed to reduce incidents of distraction burglary within the Metropolitan District of Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Title: Evaluation of the Leeds Distraction Burglary Project
Author: Stuart Lister, David Wall, Jane Bryan
Series: Home Office On-line Report 44/04
Published: 10th August 2004
Number of pages: 79
Availability: Download full report PDF 536Kb
Distraction burglary is the deliberate engagement of victims by offenders in order to deceive them and gain entry to their home. If this approach is unsuccessful, then offenders sometimes resort to violence. These type of burglaries represent between 4% to 8% of all dwelling burglaries.
The research found that in West Yorkshire the average age of distraction burglary victims was 77 years, 69% of which were female.
The Leeds Distraction Burglary Initiative (LDBI) successfully implemented a range of law enforcement and crime prevention interventions, which focused predominantly upon older people. These interventions included:
A range of situational crime prevention equipment to enhance domestic security; (e.g. additional security equipment for older peoples houses, and gardening work);
A doorstep cold-calling protocol for agency visitors;
A domestic contractors' voluntary registration scheme;
A specialist distraction burglary detective and Scenes of Crime Officer;
Developing partnerships;
Presentations to members of the public, the voluntary sector and statutory agencies;
Training conferences for agency personnel and neighbourhood volunteers;
School visits
Drama performances portraying crime prevention messages;
Educational crime prevention and detection videos;
A high profile media strategy.
The LDBI took a multi-agency approach which utilised the expertise and delivery capacity of a range of statutory and non-statutory partner agencies. The City of Leeds has a well-developed older people's voluntary sector – which proved a key factor in the successful implementation of the project. Volunteers from older people's community groups were mobilised, which helped to extend the project's coverage and disseminate crime prevention advice, assistance and resources to large number of older people.
Another objective was to promote the reducing burglary distraction agenda to other public, private and voluntary agencies providing services to older people. This would enable the projects crime prevention activities to be sustained after the Home Office funding expired.
The impact on crime
Before the LDBI commenced in April 2001 the rate of distraction burglary in Leeds and in the wider West Yorkshire Police area increased. It subsequently declined in Leeds during the first 6 months of the project before rising again in line with the wider force area and peaking in summer 2002, 15 months after the project began.
The reason for this increase is believed to be due to greater reporting by the public following the widespread publicity and more efficient police recording practices. During the last 9 months of the project the number of recorded distraction burglaries declined, falling to a comparatively low level after the funding period ended. (see graph)
Recommendations
Drawing on the findings of the research it is recommended that:
crime and disorder partnerships should allocate responsibility for developing partnership structures to a 'Champion'; this will prevent strategies slipping between the gaps of 'partnership working'.
It is recommended that police forces:
create inter-force structures to enable the development of more efficient mechanisms of information sharing about the activities of highly mobile distraction burglars;
create intra-force structures to facilitate the cross-divisional collation and dissemination of crime intelligence about local incidents of distraction burglary; by appointing a specialist, with the responsibility of relaying this information.
develop partnership links with agencies that routinely receive useful intelligence from the public about the activities of distraction-type offenders (e.g. utilities companies, Trading Standards and Social Services). This will increase the speed of relevant information about 'attempt' or 'actual' distraction burglaries to the police.
encourage greater use of the 'delayed interview procedure' to improve the quality of evidence obtained from victims found in high states of emotional anxiety; first, the investigating officer should obtain the victim's consent to pay a second visit in order to reduce the risk of re-igniting any post-offence trauma. Secondly, the first 'light-touch' interview should gain sufficient detail from the victim to ensure that urgent forensic examinations are appropriately directed before evidence can be contaminated.
It is recommended that distraction burglary reduction partnerships should:
establish mechanisms for consultation and information exchange with agencies delivering services to older people in order to better target 'at risk' individuals - e.g. health agencies, Social Services, social registered landlords, the police, voluntary organisations, community groups, and older people's clubs.
establish mechanisms for representing and consulting older people. Practitioners are advised to question common assumptions about older people and their behaviour. If the instrumental reasons that underpin the 'risky behaviour' of many older people are misunderstood then their susceptibility to distraction burglary cannot be fully addressed.
focus upon vulnerabilities rather than age as the principal characteristic upon which to distribute crime prevention resources. This requires recognition of the diversity found among older people and their different levels of risk. Such an approach enables interventions to be more appropriately tailored and targeted to the needs of individuals and communities.
develop educational campaigns that raise awareness about distraction burglary. The various disguises exploited by offenders are a good place to start.
promote safety routines (e.g. doorstep etiquette) through interactive and discursive methods.
manage the content of media strategies to portray strong positive images of older people. Headlines portraying older people as 'easy prey' risk reinforcing unhelpful notions of vulnerability.
develop innovative and systematic implementation strategies that access 'hard to reach' older people such as disabled, whom may be a higher risk of distraction burglary.
It is recommended that future research and practice explores:
other factors beyond age that might also shape the distribution of distraction burglary victimisation (e.g. the spatial dimension, health dimension, household tenure type, etc); This will lead to allocation of crime prevention resources;
the longer-term physical impacts of distraction burglary upon older victims. If distraction burglary is a trigger event responsible for the terminal decline of some victims then the seriousness of the offence is being greatly undermined by the short-term gaze of the criminal justice system.
Last update: Monday, September 11, 2006