Risk Profile

The purpose of presenting this information on risk is to help partners to:

• Identify specific crime problems in their area

• Gain initial clues as to the broader dimensions of the problems (in terms of who gets victimised etc)

• Spot local patterns which do not conform to the national picture (and which may need especially innovators responses)

• To prioritise.

Whatever the case, these typical patterns of risk must be supplemented by, and checked against local information (see ‘Assessing the local situation’)

On average, 4.3% of households in England and Wales experienced at least one burglary in 1999 (2.5% of households were victims of burglary with entry and 1.9% victims of attempted burglary).

In 1997, 5.6% of households had been burgled (3.2% being victims of burglary with entry and 2.7% victims of attempts)

Repeat victimisation

The extent of repeat victimization has remained relatively stable at around 17% of all domestic burglary.

Repeat victimisation is the subject of a specific toolkit.

Key elements of repeat victimisation are;

• Victimisation is the best predictor of further victimisation

• When victimisation recurs it tends to do so quickly

• High crime rates and hot spots are as they are primarily because of rates of repeat victimisation

• The same offenders tend to return and re- offend

• Those who repeatedly victimise the same target tend to be more established in criminal careers than those who do not. Pease(1998)