Good Practice
Reducing Burglary to Student Accommodation
The series of interventions carried out in this project were based on the analysis of the burglary problem in the identified target area. Funding was received from the Home Office under the Reducing Burglary Initiative Round 3.
Target Area
3 areas within Sheffield each policed by a separate District Command Unit.
33,397 households
5001 domestic burglaries reported over a 3-year period
Costs of burglary
Burglary of a multi-occupied student house yields items 4 times the value of a normal domestic burglary.
Between 1 April 1999 and 31 March 2000 - 1514 burglaries
Almost £1.5million worth of property stolen and cost to the police authority of around £45,450 (based on an average of two hours to investigate each offence)
The Problem Defined
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Large geographical area with high density of private rented accommodation. |
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Large terrace housing with mainly poor security which is unoccupied for most of the day and late evening. Crime analysis showed a sharp rise in burglary dwelling in this area between October and January. |
A maze of insecure alleys that link-up through dilapidated gardens and fences leading to hundreds of homes, and providing excellent hiding places for stolen property. Many of the gardens are overgrown and still have outside toilets. |
MO for burglary is access through inadequate rear ground floor doors and glazed windows. |
Very few properties with alarm systems installed. |
High turnover of residents, with a large population of student tenants leaving once their courses were finished . |
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Little or no feeling of community and little communication of the risk factors from old resident to new. |
Concentration of high value, portable and easily disposable electrical items, particularly computers. |
Anonymity of thieves who merge with genuine residents easily, as they are mainly strangers to each other. |
Aims of the Project
To reduce incidents of domestic burglary by at least 20% over a 12 month period, preventing 324 burglaries and reducing stolen property worth £299,380.00.
Examination of some of the Interventions
Property Marking
The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University were supplied with a label printer and labels. Prior to their arrival in Sheffield, every student was sent a set of tamper evident labels with their postcode, a UV pen, window stickers and a covering letter explaining that vulnerable equipment should be labeled and marked.
Police also attended Freshers' fairs and personally marked students' property and issued UV pens
In addition, all burglary victims were issued with a set of labels, UV pen, window sticker, crime reduction information and a letter explaining how to use them, in an effort to stop them becoming a repeat victim. In total over 300,000 labels were issued and attached to property at the beginning of the new academic year. The success of this activity has led to it being repeated for the 2003/04 academic year.
Installation of Alley Gates and Fencing
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The aim was to install 147 gates and fencing (examples above) where required to a range of areas within Sheffield. The gates are of wrought iron construction, fitted with a self closing mechanism and high security mortice lock, each suited to that gate only and with sufficient keys for all the residents. Written permission was sought from all those with legal rights of access and interest including residents, owners and landlords. Letters to all relevant addresses were hand delivered to allow for early identification of any problems.
The need to gain planning permission for a number of sites caused some delays to occur.
In total, 157 gates were installed with around 750 homes now having restricted access to the rear of the property.
Target Hardening
627 properties were targeted for free home security upgrades to prevent both initial and repeat burglaries. The Sheffield City Stewardship Scheme provided qualified trainers and trainees employed by Sheffield City Council.
The locks were fitted to suit each property e.g.: thumb turn escape locks for houses in multiple-occupancy and new doors were supplied for the elderly and others who could not afford a replacement.
Over 2000 homes have been referred to the scheme which proved popular with students, landlords and private residents.
Crime Reduction Officer
A dedicated Crime Reduction officer from Sheffield Hallam University security staff was seconded to the police for the period of the project. He visited over 1000 properties, both those of victims and those requesting help and advice In addition, he met with a number of landlords who were keen to improve security for the students living in their properties. The skills he acquired in this role could be utilised upon his return to the university and contribute to the sustainability of the project.
Tracker Systems & WebDetect
A number of tracking systems were were placed in televisions and stereo equipment to trace stolen goods.
WebDetect is a piece of software installed onto the computer's hard drive. If a computer is stolen, the system covertly sends a signal down the lines to check on its status and details of its whereabouts are immediately forwarded to the police. The security departments and the Student Unions are now distributing these at both Universities. However, many students thought that the software would monitor the websites they are visiting and detect unlicensed software on their systems (it does neither of these things).
Negotiations with a student insurance company to use WebDetect to reduce both the number of claims for computers and to assist in recovering a larger number of them, also proved unsuccessful.
Intelligence-Led Policing
Over a six month period, a dedicated team of a sergeant and 4 DC's worked together with the prolific offenders team to identify and arrest offenders who had been released on license and were re-offending. Hot spot areas were analysed and identified and anyone found offending in these areas were arrested. In total 13 operations were carried out and over 28 people arrested - subsequent prison visits also cleared over 40 other offences. The arrest of these prolific offenders reduced the burglaries committed within the project area to 4 or 5 a day.
Landlords
Work underway with the council, universities, fire service and landlords to introduce a citywide standard for all rented accommodation within Sheffield. Registration will be voluntary to begin with although the aim is to transfer the standards into a city bylaw.
Awareness raising and media coverage
A double decker bus advertising with crime prevention advice toured Sheffield.
Screen savers and emails containing crime prevention information sent direct to each student and university employee.
The Results
Although the full analysis and evaluation of the project is not yet finished, the preliminary results for the first 9 months are very encouraging.
2000 - Project area accounted for approximately 19% of all domestic burglaries in Sheffield
2001 - fallen to around 14% of all domestic burglaries
2000 - average number of burglaries - 141
2001 - drop of nearly 40% to 86 burglaries
Over the nine-month duration of the project, domestic burglary fell by 32.6%, which suggests that the project has saved 404 burglaries in its first nine months of operation. If the trend continues over the full 12-month period, around 539 burglaries will have been prevented.
Trends across the city were analysed for displacement both in relation to areas and in other crime types No marked change in trends were revealed, which indicates that displacement did not occur.
The initial aim of a 20% reduction or 324 burglaries has been exceeded and the project can be declared a success.
Lessons learnt
Dedicated Project Manager and investigation team is essential in a project of this size and ideally involved right from the start. Each policing district has to be committed to the project. |
Dedicated administrative support is also essential to carry things forward when the Project Manager is away. |
Many of the alley-gated required planning permission which proved time consuming and could have been prepared for prior to funding being granted. The cost implication should have been part of the initial funding application. |
Never underestimate the public. Despite security equipment such as and alley gates being given away, some people were still not interested. |
Do your homework. Time has to be given to organisations to find out how feasible some of the ideas are and to plan the work needed to ensure the successful conclusion of the project. A matter of a few weeks is not enough and can lead to bids failing which, given a little more time and planning could have been a success. |
For further information on this project, please contact:
DC Lynda Jackson, Ecclesfield Police Station, Sheffield |
Last update: Last update: 15/12/03