NCJ Number
191002
Journal
Criminal Justice: The International Journal of Policy and Practice Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2001 Pages: 59-82
Date Published
February 2001
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article describes the way in which a research-based idea -- reducing repeat victimization -- became a national strategy to reduce crime in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
This project has been described as one of the most influential in U.K. crime prevention history. The task was to develop a cost-effective method of reducing domestic burglary and describing how it achieved its effect. An interagency team of academics, police, probation staff and others developed a new approach to crime control. They determined the scale and nature of the problem by a careful analysis of crime data; targeted police and other resources to reduce the risk of further offending; and demonstrated a highly significant reduction in domestic burglary over 3 years. They showed that on the project estate there was a great deal of repeat victimization. If a house had been burgled there was a significantly higher risk of it being burgled again than if it had not been burgled in the first place, and within a relatively short time. The significance of this work was the demonstration that protecting the victims of burglary reduced the burglary rate in the area overall. This research soon became the focus of the Home Secretary’s police performance indicators for the prevention of crime. The strategy involved a graded response to victims according to the number of times they had been victimized in the previous year. The application of this model soon became relevant to the control of domestic violence. The police response to domestic violence was generally determined by the number of times a complaint had been made previously. The “strength” of the response increased from level one through three as calls for service increased, or if the police judged that a more intensive intervention was required. 48 notes