Criminal damage: Frequently asked questions

Joined up working between partners will result in more effective delivery for all concerned.
The Tilley Awards (2006) recognised Hampshire Constabulary’s Operation Mullion as an example of successful partnership working to tackle criminal damage.
A range of statutory agencies will have an interest in addressing problem people and places. These agencies are encouraged through the inspection process to fully commit to working in partnership with each other. The first approach is to encourage dialogue at the local level, escalating to management level if necessary.

BTP has seven operational areas throughout the UK and each area engages at a local level with a variety of statutory and non-statutory groups. The location of each operational area is set out on BTP's website. To contact BTP dial 0800 40 50 40 (freephone) for non emergency incidents. They can then supply you with a local point of contact or they will make arrangements for someone to respond to you.
Transport organisations should be represented on local Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships, and it is within these partnerships that public transport crime & anti-social behaviour issues can be addressed and dealt with by intelligence led policing. Most important is that these incidents are reported to the police in order that hotspot locations, times, days and incident types can be identified so that the correct measures and initiatives can be put in place.
The key element in securing partner engagement is information about the problem. By providing key intelligence, the problem solving process can begin. When trying to engage transport operators, working out an approximate value for the expenditure and lost revenue from criminal damage can focus attention on finding a resolution to the problem. Presenting problems in terms of police targets will assist in gaining police involvement.

At the national level, criminal damage accounts for 27% of all British Crime Survey (BCS) 2007/08 crime. In some areas it may well account for much more. Its high volume means that failure to tackle it will make meeting locally negotiated crime reduction targets much more difficult to meet.
Criminal damage affects a significant proportion of households. According to the BCS 2007/08, 7.3% of households in England and Wales had experienced some form of criminal damage in the previous 12 months.
Criminal damage matters to people; 28% of people think vandalism is a big, or fairly big, problem in their area; this rises to 41% in deprived areas. Nine per cent of people from urban areas say that vandalism is their biggest problem (BCS 03/04).
Criminal Damage is one of the seven strands by which we measure people’s perception of anti social behaviour. Tackling criminal damage will therefore not only help reduce the number of offences, but also people’s perception of anti social behaviour.

Neighbourhood policing teams engage with their local community to establish local priorities and are tasked with tackling those issues that re important to that particular community. Therefore, if criminal damage is highlighted as an issue that the community would like addressed then Neighbourhood Policing Teams could be involved. As neighbourhood policing rolls out, local communities are being provided with increased opportunities to contact their neighbourhood policing team to discuss their concerns.
More information about neighbourhood policing can be found on the programme website. Also on the website is the Neighbourhood Policing Partnership Guide. We have developed a briefing note, aimed at neighbourhood policing teams, highlighting the importance of tackling criminal damage to achieve safer neighbourhoods.

Last update: Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area