The Crime Prevention Website

I’ve just been reading a section in the Crime Survey for England and Wales Year Ending June 2015 about burglary. 

This is what is said: 

The year ending June 2015 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated 750,000 incidents of domestic burglary. The level of domestic burglary was at a similar level to the previous year with the apparent 3% decrease not statistically significant (Tables 11a and 11b). Over the longer term the CSEW indicates that incidents of burglary have fallen. From the mid-1990s to the 2004/05 survey estimates fell sharply followed by a period of gradual decline with some fluctuations (such as the increase seen in 2010/11). Over the longer term, CSEW estimates for the year ending June 2015 remain 29% lower than those in the 2004/05 survey and 69% lower than those in the 1995 survey 

Around 3 in 100 households were victims of domestic burglary in the year ending June 2015 CSEW. This compares with around 9 in 100 households in the 1995 survey, meaning that households are around 3 times less likely to be a victim of burglary than in 1995 (Tables 11a and 11b). It is widely accepted that improvements to home security have been an important factor in the reduction seen in domestic burglary offences. More recently research (Morgan, 2014) has mapped the growth and decline in domestic burglary during the 1980s and 1990s with heroin and crack cocaine misuse, which follows a similar pattern and may have also been a contributory factor. Other potential factors are discussed in the ‘Existing theories on why property crime has fallen’ section of Focus on: Property Crime, 2013/14.......... 

This all sounds rather good, but does it? 

Regardless of the welcomed falls in burglary since the mid 1990s the figures are still too high. 520 thousand burglaries of dwellings, which is 1,425 per day across England and Wales; nigh on one-a-minute is still a lot!  Adding to this a further 230 thousand burglaries of things like sheds and garages gives us that grand total of 750 thousand burglaries. 

I reckon you and me can get this figure down still further and the way to do it is to practice some good old fashioned commonsense by not providing the necessary opportunities for the thieves, because that’s what they’re looking for! 

Chief amongst these are: 

  • Not properly locking a multi-point locking door, especially at night
  • Leaving keys in door locks, especially close to cat-flaps
  • Leaving a ground floor front window open when out in the back garden
  • Leaving doors and windows open or unlocked when going out
  • Not leaving lights on in the home when we go out at night
  • Not buying enhanced secured doors and windows when upgrading them
  • Having an insecure shed containing tools for the burglar to use on the house
  • Not locking the garage, which may have a door directly into the house
  • Not chaining up a wheelie bin which could be used to climb over a side gate
  • Not locking a side gate
  • Not setting the burglar alarm
  • Having a security safe and not using it
  • Not marking valuables, making it easy for thieves to sell them on 

Check your home security here: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/home-security-assessment/468/home-security-survey--diy/

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