Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Reducing Burglary Resources Pack

Most burglaries are carried out by opportunist thieves. In 3 /10 burglaries, they don't even have to use force - they get in through an open door or window. Thankfully there are some simple steps we can take to protect our property.

The Home Office wants to reduce burglary and we have learnt the best way of getting the messages across is to involve as many people as possible. We are keen to involve community organisations in helping to reduce burglary and spreading messages as we know communities appreciate information from organisations that know about their local area and experiences of crime.

Some ideas and practical tools have been put together to make it easier for community organisations to get across this message. These are examples but we would welcome suggestions to develop the kit further.

• Posters

• Leaflets

• Branding

• Burglary Icons

• Template & Article for a newsletter

• Other ideas

If your organisation has helped to reduce burglary, anti-social behaviour or vehicle crime in your community visit www.tpas.org.uk to enter a Crime Reduction Competition sponsored by the Home Office. (It's in the 'What's New' section)

poster1.pdf poster1.doc	poster2.pdf poster2.doc	Posters & Leaflets These posters and leaflets are supplied as both Acrobat and Word documents for you to print or download. The versions in Word each have editable areas where you can add you logo or information To save any of these files to your PC right click on the link and choose 'Save Target as...' (Option click on a Mac)
2leaflets.pdf 2leaflets.doc	3leaflets.pdf 3leaflets.doc
	Newsletter Here's a newsletter template [Newsletter.doc] to download as a Microsoft Word document. You can edit this to reflect your organisation. Sample.doc is an example that already has an article included Newsletter.doc Sampled
	Branding: Please download and use this logo to reinforce the message... JPEG for PC or Mac: logo.jpg Windows metafile for PC: logo.wmf Illustrator file for Mac: logo.eps
If you can, you should try and position it in the bottom right hand corner of any publicity you produce - a bit like a full stop. Some logo use guidelines have been produced by the Home Office.
	Icons The icons are all here as separate JPEG files in a single zip file icons.zip Extract the files using Winzip (PC) or Stuffit (Mac)

Other Ideas

You could help get the message across in other ways such as:

• Running a competition, possibly involving young people, e.g. crime prevention poster design.

• Holding a local crime reduction day or week.

• Involving local businesses in spreading crime reduction messages.

Feedback

Your feedback and comments are welcome please email louise.brown5@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and we can make improvements to the packs.

Further Information

Contacts for the Crime Reduction Units in the regional government offices:

• London:
  020 7217 3199

• South East and East of England:
  01483 884835

• North West - Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside:
  0161 952 4073

• North East - Durham, Northumberland, Teeside and Tyne and Wear:
  0191 202 3606

• West Midlands - Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, Hereford, Worcester, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire:
  0121 212 5138

• East Midlands - Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland:
  0115 971 2721

• Yorkshire and the Humber - North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and the Humber:
  0113 283 6646

• South West - Bath, North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Bournemouth, Poole, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Swindon:
  0117 900 1784

• National Assembly for Wales:
  02920 801388

Example Article

How to Beat the Bogus Caller

Most people who call at your home will be genuine. But sometimes people turn up unannounced with the intention of tricking their way into your home.

They are known as 'bogus callers' or 'distraction burglars' whose only aim is to get into homes, distract people, and steal their money and valuables. Be aware when someone calls at your door – remember to:

Lock - Keep your front and back doors locked, even when at home.

Stop - Before you answer, stop and think if you are expecting anyone to call? Make sure your back door is locked and take the key out. Look through the spy-hole or the window to see who the caller is.

Chain - Put the door bar or chain on and keep it on until you are certain of the caller's identity.

Check - Ask for the caller's identity card and check it carefully. And if you are in any doubt, keep them out!

The following tips can help you protect your home and property.

• The best defences against a doubtful caller are a viewer or spyhole in the door and a stout door chain. Remember: "Lock, Stop, Chain, Check".

• Always make sure that visitors are who they say they are.

• If you are worried, ring the police.

• Don't let the caller stop you checking their details by saying they are in a hurry.

• If you are contacted by a salesperson, always seek a advice from an independent source. Never sign anything on the spot.

• Be wary of salespeople who call unannounced and try to persuade you to spend your money on an investment scheme. 

• Be particularly careful of offers from overseas, as you will probably not be able to pursue the case through the courts in this country if you are defrauded.

Insurance will take away the financial worry of replacing stolen goods and many companies offer reduced premiums for people with good home security. Ask your insurance company which security systems it recommends.

When you're planning home security measures such as locks for doors and windows, make sure that you and your family could get out safely in the event of a fire. Get everyone in your household together to make a Fire Action Plan.

Be a good neighbour - if you see anyone acting suspiciously, call the police.

Your local crime prevention officer will be able to give you helpful advice – you can contact them at your local police station. Some police forces will even check your home and recommend ways of improving security.

You can find lots of helpful advice about crime prevention on the website www.crimereduction.gov.uk. There is also a leaflet called "A Guide To Home Security", which is available from the Home Office by telephoning 0870 241 4680. Please quote HSL02.

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