Beating the burglar – an ethnic minorities perspective (London Borough of Brent, February 2001).

In preparation for submitting a bid for Home Office burglary reduction funding, Brent carried out analysis on a residential burglary hotspot in the Alperton area of the borough. The area was of particular interest because it had previously not been recognised as a residential burglary hotspot by the community safety partnership.

Geographic area profiles of Alperton revealed some useful facts about the focus area.

• Railway lines to the north, east and west and the North Circular road to the south restrict movement into and out of the area.

• The area has two primary schools which causes through traffic to be high during the school rush hour.

• Census information revealed that the ethnic breakdown of Alperton was predominately Indian/Bangladeshi, a view reflected in the analysis of the ethnicity of victims of residential burglary.

This analysis that revealed the ethnic composition of the area was important for a number of reasons.

• Although ‘traditional’ items of property were being stolen (e.g. televisions, hi-fi’s and computers), a high proportion of jewellery and cash was also being taken. This analysis prompted the Police to suggest that burglars who were interested in stealing gold dowries often made in Indian/Bangladeshi culture might target this area.

• The ethnic composition of an area like Alperton has consequences in the way that residents can be contacted by the partnership. It was discussed that a generic approach to tackling burglary may not work in this area. The language barrier would need to be addressed so that crime reduction pamphlets and posters could be properly designed and that beat officers with these language skills could be assigned when needed to this area.

• A third issue related to possible under reporting of crime because of language problems and low levels of property insurance.

Brent’s crime and disorder reduction partnership is one that is actively aimed to encourage community involvement. The action plan drawn from the analysis of this focus area included the need to improve Police understanding of issues faced by these types of ethnic minority communities, and that work needed to be done to improve the impression that the Police could offer assistance to individuals in these types of ethnic communities.

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