Measuring arson: Recorded crime figures and police counting rules

The police record malicious fires as arson as defined by the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (For a summary table of offences and further explanation of the legislation click here….

There are marked difference in the levels of malicious fires recorded by the police and the fire service; this can be in part be explained because:

• The Criminal Damage Act has a higher level of proof that arson has been committed than is required for a brigade to attribute a fire as deliberately started.

• Given the wording of the Criminal Damage Act. ‘intent’ or ‘recklessness’ and the involvement of property have to be established by the police before an offence of arson can be recorded.

• Over half of the deliberate (serious) fires dealt with by brigades involve vehicles. Until April 1998, the police would not generally have recorded these incidents as arson. Police counting rules stipulated that (in most circumstances) a car reported stolen before being found burnt out was recorded as theft or taken without the owner’s consent (TWOC) whereas if a car was reported as “burnt out” then found to be stolen, it was usually recorded as arson. However, the method of recording offences changed in April 1998 so that an incident involving a vehicle which is stolen and then burnt now takes account of both the vehicle theft and the arson and hence TWO offences rather than only one are recorded. This must be remembered when partnerships are making comparisons with recorded crime data pre-April 1998.

In 1999, the fire service in England and Wales attended 91,000 deliberately set fires involving property or casualties (i.e. more serious primary fires). It is estimated that brigades attended a further 100,000 secondary (i.e. mostly small fires) or outdoor fires that were set deliberately. For the financial year 1999/00, recorded crime statistics for police forces in England and Wales police statistics show a total of 53, 794 offences (about 60% of the deliberately set fires attended by the fire service). Police statistics for 2000/01 show a 1.8% reduction to 52, 818 recorded offences. This is considered to understate the true position because arson resulting in injury is recorded as a violent crime.

Statistically, arson accounts for almost 1% of the total recorded crime and is overshadowed by volume property crime such as burglary and theft.

Whilst no concrete information concerning the ratio of reported to recorded arson offences is currently available, a comparison of statistics in the West End area of Newcastle showed that Northumbria Police were recording 9% of all deliberate incidents attended by Tyne and Wear brigade as arson.

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The differential between fire statistics and police statistics is further increased when the number of deliberate secondary fires (those not involving property) is taken into account.

There is no published national measure of the number of deliberately set secondary fires However,. of the 195,000 secondary fires reported in 1999, it is estimated that around half were deliberately started. Some brigades have estimated that as much as 80-90% of the secondary fires attended in their areas could have been started deliberately. Taking account of secondary fires, it is estimated that overall deliberate firesetting activity is in the region of 48% of the total number of fires (about 190,000 fires per year).

The differential between recorded crime and fire service data highlights the need to include both in local crime audits. In particular, very few secondary fires are likely to be reflected in the police statistics and if police data is used in isolation this could understate any estimation of the local arson problem.

The Government recognises that a more realistic measure of arson must be used if national and local initiatives are to be properly evaluated. The new national Arson Control Forum in conjunction with the Home Office is currently considering a true measure of arson and deliberate fire setting encompassing all the various data sources (including secondary fires).

In addition, Home Office Circular 44/2000 (link) advises fire brigades to avoid confusion regarding the ‘malicious’, ‘deliberate’ and ‘doubtful’ categorisation of fires by recording fires as either ‘deliberate’ or ‘accidental’.

The Criminal Damage Act 1971 covers damage to property in general, however it is caused. Section 1(1) of the Act states that it is a offence to damage or destroy property belonging to someone else without lawful excuse

It is not an offence to destroy property if it is done in the honest or mistaken belief that the property is one’s own.

It is however an offence to act in a reckless manner (which means, in law, knowing or closing one’s mind to the obvious fact that there is a risk of damage) which increases the risk of damaging or destroying property.

Section 1(2) covers damage to property that also endangers the life of somebody else. Under this section of the Act, it is an offence, intentionally or recklessly, to damage or destroy property when at the same time there is an intention or recklessness about endangering the life of another person. Section 1(3) specifies that when the damage to property has been done by fire, the offence shall be charged as arson. In practice, a tendency to charge criminal damage without specifying arson may minimise the number of recorded cases of arson in the Criminal Statistics.

It is also an offence under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 to make threats that such damage would be carried out, in a manner such that the person threatened believes it likely that the threats would be carried out (Section 2), or to have objects in one’ s possession with the intention of carrying out such damage (Section 3).

Offences under the Criminal Damage Act 1971