Burglary Reduction in Action: The Hartlepool Experience
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Burglary Reduction in Action: The Hartlepool Experience Sue Adamson1 This paper draws on research for the evaluation of the Home Office Reducing Burglary Initiative to examine one project and assess its success in reducing burglary. Hartlepool chose a variety of interventions which were well targeted with respect to the problems of the area and to the resources available. Implementation was assisted by strong management and close cooperation with the community. Analysis of burglary data showed that Hartlepool met its own target of reducing burglary by 25 per cent in the first two years, and achieved a net reduction of 55 burglaries after trends in the surrounding area had been removed. Further work has shown that this reduction has continued over a further two years, resulting in a total saving of 138 burglaries. As a whole the project was cost-beneficial, with net benefits after two years of £64,000. Effects of individual interventions have not always been clear, but some have had beneficial impacts. Key Words: Burglary prevention; youth diversion; community development; partnership; alleygates Introduction The burglary reduction scheme in Hartlepool which is the subject of this paper was implemented under the Home Office Reducing Burglary Initiative (RBI). Phase 1 in 1999 provided funding for 63 Strategic Development Projects (SDPs), all of which had a burglary rate of at least twice the national average. Rather than assuming that burglary should be tackled in the same way in all areas, the RBI expected SDPs to analyse burglary problems in the local area and tailor strategies to that situation and to the best use of the £60,000 available to each SDP. The RBI also expected realistic target-setting and identification of mechanisms for burglary reduction. It was envisaged that projects would form partnerships between the police, local authority and other local agencies rather than being implemented by a single agency. In the event the SDPs varied widely in the number and type of interventions which they attempted, in the degree to which they embraced partnership working, in the efficiency of their planning and implementation processes, and in their success in reducing burglary. The RBI was the subject of a national evaluation, whose overall findings are beyond the scope of this paper but are the subject of a considerable literature elsewhere (eg Tilley et al, 1999; Curtin et al, 2001; Hirschfield et al, 2002; Bowers and Johnson, 2003; Jacobson et al, 2003; Bowers et al, 2003). Hartlepool SDP was chosen for detailed study because of the variety of interventions used and because of its demonstrated success both in terms of burglary outcomes and of achieving its aims and objectives. This paper will briefly describe the work that was undertaken in terms of interventions, including major problems encountered, and assess the extent to which
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Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal 2005, 7 (2), 41–52
the project can claim success in reducing burglary. A mor
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