Droylsden Burglary Reduction Initiative

GMAC SARA Package

(Delta Five)

1. Introduction
2. Method
3. Key Findings
4. Burglary Alarms
5. Challenges
6. Public Consultation
7. Conclusions
8. Recommendations

1. Introduction

The Strategic Threat Assessments prepared for GMAC (Greater Manchester Against Crime) in 2004 and 2005 identified Droylsden (Beat D5) as a 'hot spot' location for incidents of domestic burglary. It was also highlighted in these reports that insecurity of property was the main reason burglaries took place within this area. Delta 1 was also identified but it was impossible to target that number of properties at any one time and it was agreed that the Delta 1 would follow later on in the year.

Given this information it was decided that a GMAC SARA package would be put in place to:-

• Reduce domestic burglary rates in this area;
• Increase awareness of the work of the Crime and Disorder Partnership and what they are doing to address the issues within this area;
• Promote increased uniformed presence (Police/Patrollers and P.C.S.O's) to reduce crime and the fear of crime;
• Increase Fire Safety within the homes targeted and increase number of households with working smoke alarm;
• Reduce the incidents of households becoming repeat victims of burglary and distraction burglary;
• Build community and voluntary capacity for crime prevention;
• Encourage individual households to effect security improvements;
• Render the area less attractive for offenders to commit crime;

In total 2525 households were targeted and offered free security and crime prevention advice from varying agencies of which 1027 took advantage of the offer. The interventions were delivered during February and March 2006.

2. Method

The implementation of the interventions were to be delivered through a small steering group consisting of key players from each agency such as:-

• Home Watch
• Tameside Patrollers
• Greater Manchester Police
• Town Manager
• Community Safety Unit
• Ward Councillors
• Greater Manchester Fire Service

The total cost of the package was in the region of £40,000 and was met from the Burglary Reduction Capital Programme budget for 2005-2008.

To ensure that the initiative was effective with a view to rolling out to other areas within the Borough with similar problems a number of outputs were built into the evaluation side of the project. It is envisaged that the initiative will achieve the following:-

• Raise Security Awareness in 1000 households
• Reduce Fear of Crime in 1000 households
• Provide security packs to 1500 households
• Raise Multi-Agency profiles in 2000 households
• Provide Intruder Alarms to 20 households (if analysis supported need)
• Reduce Burglary rates within target area by 25%

An Action Plan was devised so that all the agencies involved delivered their respective actions on time and within budget. Regular briefings were held both before, during and after the initiative to discuss the interventions and ensure that any problems arising were rectified without delay.

The initiative was publicised in the local press and involved the local police for the area, a representative from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and also the Local Ward Councillor who is a member of the Droylsden District Assembly. In addition to this one local Home Watch representative was invited to take part in the photo call by the press officer of Greater Manchester Police.

3. Key Findings

A number of improvements identified from the delivery of the previous SARA in Denton were implemented (see previous report on Denton ) which aided the smooth delivery of this project. They included:-

• Introduction letters sent by CSU on police headed note paper;
• Obtained telephone numbers of households;
• Regular debriefs at the end of each day by all services;
• Fire Service identified one person in charge who briefed each crew daily;
• A signature was obtained from recipients of the pack;
• Delivery lists were completed by each service for audit purposes;
• Local Community Police Officers were involved from the planning stage;
• More time was taken by the services involved in the delivery to ensure that keys messages are being passed to the community;

4. Burglary Alarms

The Crime Reduction Adviser looked at the crime statistics for burglary over a 12 month period and identified 15 properties that had been victims of burglary by means of forced entry during that period. These residents were written to and invited to apply for a free burglar alarm to be fitted by an approved contractor. To date 13 of those properties applied and have been fitted with a new burglar alarm system to a specification identified by the Crime Reduction Adviser at a total cost of £5818.66.

5. Challenges

The major hurdle that was not overcome was the involvement of Home Watch. Although their assistance had been offered to the local Inspector their involvement before, during and after the initiative was extremely disappointing. Only one member was involved at the initial stages despite many invitations from the Local Police. This issue needs to be addressed by the Force Home Watch Administrator and resolved prior to the next initiative planned for the summer months in Delta 1.

It became apparent that residents in this locality with disabilities struggled with deployment of the contents of the security pack. This was evidenced when a resident telephoned the unit and expressed concerns that no one had offered to fit the equipment. The residents over 65 were assisted by Age concern and residents under 65 were offered assistance from the Crime Reduction Adviser. However the service that delivered this particular pack did not question whether she required assistance resulting in the unit not being aware of her problems until her contact.

Other than this the initiative ran smoothly due to the issues identified in Dane Bank being adopted and changed in the delivery of this initiative.

6. Public Consultation

Once again the effectiveness on the PSA2 target of the fear of crime was evaluated using the questionnaire method. 1027 questionnaires were issued to recipients of the security pack and 409 were returned which equates to just over a 39% return.

The results were as follows:-

Gender of Respondent

• Some respondents completed details for all occupants in the house therefore this table and the following tables represent more residents than the 409 completed questionnaires

Age of Respondent

• LA= Living Alone

Ethnicity

Disability Profile

Perception before Initiative

Service seen during Initiative

• respondents were asked to tick more than one service If they witnessed more than one in the area at the time of the initiative

How was pack Delivered?

Most Useful Items

Satisfaction Results

7. Conclusions

1. A disappointing lack of involvement from Home Watch members proves that better ways of engaging local volunteers need to be addressed for future initiatives;
2. Lessons learnt from previous initiatives incorporated into this SARA resulted in a more cost effective delivery on this occasion;
3. Challenges were encountered in the delivery of the service to people with learning disabilities that were possibly already known to Social Services.
4. If all findings are addressed it is evident from the public perception survey that the fear of crime targets set by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy are being addressed however it is unclear from limited research as to what impact these SARA's have on actual burglary rates within a target area.

8. Recommendations

• Negotiations need to commence between the Home Watch Administrator and Community Safety Unit to address how we can better involve volunteers for future initiatives;
• Checks need to be undertaken with Social Services prior to commencement of future SARA's to identify vulnerable clients living in the target areas so that their needs can be addressed and the package tailored to their particular disabilities;
• Detailed analysis on the effects on burglary rates needs to be undertaken by the GMAC Analyst to ensure that these Burglary Reduction Packages have impact on statistics and ultimately are a cost effective tool in reducing burglary.