Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Domestic Burglary

What is domestic burglary?

Burglary with entry Incidents in which the offender entered the building as a trespasser with the intention of committing theft, grievous bodily harm (GBH) or unlawful damage. To be classified as burglary with entry the offender must have entered the property but need not have carried out his/her intention.

Burglary with loss As above but once inside the building the accused did steal or inflict GBH.

Attempted burglary Incidents in which there is clear evidence that the offender tried to enter the dwelling as a trespasser but failed. Burglary does not necessarily entail the theft, or attempted theft, of property, or involve forced entry (it may be through an open window or involve the use of false pretences).

Aggravated burglary A person is guilty of aggravated burglary if they have with them any weapon of offence at the time of committing the burglary.

 

Key elements of domestic burglaries

As defined by the Theft Act 1968, domestic burglaries are entry (or attempted entry) to all inhabited dwellings including inhabited caravans, houseboats and holiday homes, as well as sheds and garages connected to the main dwelling (i.e. by a connecting door), as a tresspasser with intent to steal property from it, and actually stealing (or attempting to steal) or vandalising property whilst inside.

The current situation

As well as the damage and loss it causes to property, burglary impacts on our sense of safety and heightens fear of crime.

Reducing crime and the fear of crime is one of the Government's top priorities. As part of the Crime Reduction Strategy, the government set a target to reduce domestic burglary by 25 per cent between 1999 and 2005. Significant progress has been made in recent years. Both the British Crime Survey (BCS) and police recorded crime show a fall in the number of burglaries between 2003/04 and 2004/05 by 20%. (The 2005/06 BCS figures will be published in July 2006.)

These figures are welcome news and reflect the hard work and commitment put in by the police, other partners in the criminal justice system and local partners.

According to the British Crime Survey, domestic burglary is down 57 per cent compared to 1995, 53 per cent compared to 1997 and 41 per cent compared to 1999. chances of being burgled are at their lowest for 20 years - on average a house is burgled (excluding attempts) just once every 50 years.

This shows that the Government's target is being met, although there is a lot more that needs to be done. The current downward trend on burglary needs to be maintained, especially in high crime areas. This is important if the current level is to be maintained which in turn will help deliver the convergence target.

From April 2005 the Government have set Public Service Agreements to reduce all crime by 15 per cent over the next three years (2008) and by more in high crime areas. This target will be measured by the BCS and will include violent crime and criminal damage.

What we are doing

There is a wide range of work in progress to reduce domestic burglary (in addition to activities aimed at reducing crime in general - such as reducing re-offending and youth crime, tackling prolific offenders, narrowing the justice gap and tackling drug related crime) including:

1. Local Crime Reduction Projects - Home Office and Neighbourhood Renewal budgets provide funding for a range of local crime reduction projects including burglary reduction. Around a third of the Local Public Service Agreements agreed in the first round included targets for delivering burglary reductions above and beyond the agreed Best Value targets.

2. Promoting Good Practice- Helping the police and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) drive up their performance and meet their targets including by sharing good practice - for example, with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) burglary working group, we have published "Domestic Burglary National Good Practice and Tactical Options Guide" (October 2004), which has been disseminated to all forces.

3. Publicity Campaigns- Developing a targeted publicity campaign, in conjunction with well known brand partners – by targeting tailored burglary prevention messages at specific, at-risk groups at the right time we hope to maximise the impact in terms of changing behaviour and improving home security standards.

4. Tougher Sentencing- The Government has also introduced minimum sentences of three years for those convicted of domestic burglary on a third separate occasion.

5. Secured by Design - Initiative to encourage the building industry to adopt crime prevention measures to assist in reducing the opportunity for crime and the fear of crime, creating a safer and more secure environment. It is run by the Association of Chief Police Officers with Home Office backing. We are also working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to drive up security standards in the rented sector.

6. In May 2004, with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, publishing a guide for planners, designers, architects and others called 'Safer Places, The Planning System and Crime Prevention'. A central aim of the guide is to show how planning has helped to deliver well designed places where people feel safe and secure and where crime and the fear of crime doesn't undermine quality of life or community cohesion. We are also working with them on a programme of work to amend the building regulations to include security measures.

7. Market Reduction- Implementing a strategy to reduce the market for stolen property - a range of activities from informing people that buying stolen property helps to perpetuate theft and drug abuse, to exploring with manufacturers the scope for producing more secure products. As part of this we will be looking at the extent to which the Internet is starting to be used to dispose of stolen property and how this can be countered.

8. Distraction Burglary - Elderly people are often the target of distraction burglars. See our separate mini site for information on tackling distraction burglary.

9. Student Crime - Students suffer high levels of a variety of crimes, including burglary. See our separate mini site for information on tackling crime against students.

Practitioner action points

• Consult our Good Practice Guide

• Check out our Domestic Burglary Toolkit

• Refer to the Home Security - An Introduction to Domestic Surveying

• Use the burglary reduction materials

• Consider the Market Reduction Approach

Last update: Monday, July 21, 2008