The Crime Prevention Website

A LACK of faith in Hampshire police has led to more than a quarter of businesses failing to report crime, new figures reveal.

This is the first line in a story from yesterday’s Hampshire Chronicle, which at first glance makes for some uncomfortable reading.

Here are the facts from an on-line survey by (it doesn’t say)

  • 45% of business crime victims report the crime to the police
  • Just under half of those who don’t report, don’t report because they have no confidence in the police
  • The rest don’t report for a variety of reasons including lack of time, small losses and fears that the report would increase their insurance premiums
  • Just under half of respondents claimed to be victims, but less than half of firms which reported incidents were satisfied with the force’s response.
  • 60 per cent of respondents have sought crime prevention advice and most turned to the Federation of Small Businesses instead of police.

I always have questions about how these surveys are put together and how the questions were asked.

For firms to say that they have no confidence in the police is a bit simplistic.  I know of several reasons that the ‘no confidence in police’ box might be selected: 

  • They don’t report because they don’t have the confidence that the police will catch the offender, because there is little or no evidence – and they’re probably right
  • They don’t report because they failed to carry out the crime prevention work they were advised to carry out the last time they reported a similar crime to the police
  • They don’t report because they don’t want it known that they were employing the wrong type of person or don’t want their customers to find out about their failings (commercial sensitivities)

Whilst this survey will obviously be of concern for Hampshire Police they shouldn’t beat themselves up over it. I was in crime prevention for many years and advised many hundreds of businesses, so I know for a certain fact that some businesses take risks with their security and will often only do as little as they need to satisfy their insurance conditions – and frankly that’s not enough! 

I was at a suite of offices the other day and the security was so bad that I was able to let myself through the accessed controlled entrance door by poking a wire through the letter plate. I then got through the inner ‘secure’ door using a credit card!  And take it from me; this lack of security is commonplace.

I’m defending Hampshire police here and actually I think this is more about businesses understanding how the criminal justice system works and the importance of evidence. They also need to do more (like householders have) to prevent the crimes in the first place.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/11622658.Lack_of_faith_in_police_leads_to_a_quarter_of_Hampshire_businesses_not_reporting_crimes/

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