Safer York Partnership
Crime and Disorder Audit 2002
Summary
Safer York Partnership
PO Box 246
Mill House
York
YO1 9YX
Tel: 01904 554567
Fax: 01904 554614
January 2002
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Purpose of the Crime and Disorder Audit
- Summary of Method and Information Used in the Audit
- Consultation
- Results of the Crime and Disorder Audit
- Key Messages from the Crime and Disorder Audit
- Crime Levels since April 2001
- Costs of Crime and Disorder
- Map of City of York
- Review of the 1999-2002 Crime Reduction Strategy
- Domestic Burglary
- Vehicle Crime
- Business Crime
- Disorder and Criminal Damage
- Domestic Violence
- Crime Based on Prejudice
- Drug and Alcohol Related Crime
- Young Offenders
- Statement of Provisional Priorities for 2002-2005
- Building Safer Communities
- Drugs and Alcohol
- High Volume Crime
- Prevention of Youth Offending
- Violent Crime
- Working with Offenders
- Key Contacts
Introduction
Purpose of the Crime and Disorder Audit
A new Crime and Disorder Reduction strategy for York will run for the three years from April 2002. Understanding the crime and disorder experienced in York will help to ensure that the next strategy focuses on the most important crime and disorder issues.
The Crime and Disorder Audit sets out information about crime and disorder between 1999 and 2001. The Audit uses data from Safer York Partnership partners such as the North Yorkshire Police, City of York Council departments, the Probation Service, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, York and Selby Primary Care Trust, as well as other voluntary and independent sector agencies involved with community safety issues.
In addition to information about crime and disorder in York over the last 2 years, the Audit also contains information about what local residents and other stakeholder groups think about crime and disorder issues.
The Crime and Disorder Audit also evaluates the success of Safer York Partnership in tackling the key crime and disorder priorities from its first Crime Reduction Strategy.
Together with crime data for the current year 2001/2002, the Crime and Disorder Audit suggests some key messages for the development of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy.
It is a statutory requirement for City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police, through Safer York Partnership, to undertake and publish a Crime and Disorder Audit in preparation for putting in place a new Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy. This document is a summary of the York Crime and Disorder Audit. The full document is available from Safer York Partnership on York 554567.
Summary of Method and Information Used in the Audit
Safer York Partnership decided upon the issues to be covered in the Crime and Disorder Audit following an analysis of three pieces of information:
- Outcome of local resident research and consultation on what local people thought about crime and disorder issues
- Comparative crime data that compared York crime levels with other areas
- Central government guidance on the priorities for crime reduction.
This suggested that the Crime and Disorder Audit should focus on the following issues in detail.
Offenders, Victims, Domestic Burglary, Vehicle Crime, Youth Crime and Disorder, Crimes based on Prejudice, Violent Crime, Fear of Crime, Drug and Alcohol Related Crime, Traffic Offences and Road Safety, Retail and Business Crime |
The Audit does not aim to present all the available information about these issues. Rather it aims to present the outcome of a process that has considered all the available local data and expertise about these issues. The aim is to present the most useful, focused and comprehensive picture of each of these issues in order to highlight the extent and nature of particular local crime and disorder issues.
A large range of information was collected and considered in preparing the Crime and Disorder Audit, from a large number of local statutory, voluntary and community organisations. However further analysis of the available local crime and disorder data will need to be undertaken over the next year to input into the next Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy. Safer York Partnership recognises that there are weaknesses in the analysis of the data within the Audit. However a number of new data analysts are now in post and work will continue to better understand the geographical and socio-economic factors that effect crime in York. In particular Safer York Partnership are working towards information sharing agreements with North Yorkshire Police and other partners which would allow electronic access to wide ranging and up to date information.
Safer York Partnership has been able to draw on a significant amount of resident opinion consultation and research data. This measures what residents think about crime issues. In addition to this, Safer York Partnership has undertaken a range of consultation with stakeholders including offenders and victims who make use of the criminal justice and community safety agencies, to find their views on crime and community safety issues.
Consultation
Local people have been given the opportunity to provide us with information about their concerns relating to crime and disorder. As a result of the ongoing consultation work undertaken in York about the nature and experience of local crime problems, we particularly focused during this consultation exercise on people's views of how crime and disorder issues should be tackled in York.
Consultation took place through various existing mechanisms, Talk About Panel, Business Panel, ward committees, Disabled Persons Advisory Group, Old People's Forum, and through specially arranged events including an open Community Forum and focus groups.
Findings from the different forms of consultation showed significant consistency in terms of the concerns of different groups of local people. The crime and disorder issues of greatest concern to local people were as follows:
- Theft from homes
- Speeding
- Groups of young people
- Vandalism
- Vehicle crime
- Drug and alcohol users
Fear of crime was felt to have a greater negative impact on the quality of life than actual crime. The results of the consultation identified a number of locations in which people felt most vulnerable. These included: outside shops; open spaces; and outside community centres. The focus groups also identified specific areas or neighbourhoods, which were felt to be particularly unsafe.
Amongst the young offenders and drugs users participating in the focus groups, experience of victimisation and fear was highest in relation to violent crime, such as mugging.
Local businesses identified similar matters to local residents, highlighting vandalism, vehicle crime and burglary as their major concerns.
Local people identified the following activities as their priorities for crime reduction:
- Community warden patrols.
- Action in schools to encourage children and young people to become good citizens.
- Provision of more out-of-school activities for young people.
- Work with offenders to reduce and/or prevent their offending behaviour.
- Local action to reduce drug and alcohol misuse.
The above activities were drawn from a list, which did not offer policing options, as previous research had told us that where policing options are offered they tend to be favoured over other forms of crime reduction. Indeed at the Community Forum event, policing measures were included and were consistently chosen. But, importantly, alternative approaches, especially action in schools, activities for young people and local action on drugs, were also popular and received support from a majority of participants.
A further consultation period follows the production of this document and allows an opportunity for residents, community groups and organisations to respond to this Audit summary and to offer their comments and ideas for inclusion in the Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy and the ongoing work of Safer York Partnership.
Results of the Crime and Disorder Audit
Key Messages from the Crime and Disorder Audit
The Crime and Disorder Audit presents information under the following headings.
Offenders, Victims, Domestic Burglary, Vehicle Crime, Youth Crime and Disorder, Crimes based on Prejudice, Violent Crime, Fear of Crime, Drug and Alcohol Related Crime, Traffic Offences and Road Safety, Retail and Business Crime |
The key findings and key messages under each heading are set out below. In general they suggest that over the 2 year period covered by the audit, the number of crimes recorded by police fell, in some cases (burglary, assault and wounding) by quite large percentages. However the next section shows that since April 2001 recorded crime has started to rise again.
While the level of recorded crime fell during the audit period, the level of fear and concern about crime has not fallen. Residents continue to see crime as the number one issue for the city. It continues to have a significant impact on quality of life for a large proportion of residents. This is in line with national findings, which suggest that it takes a number of years after crime starts to fall for people to become less concerned about it. The group of residents least likely to be concerned about burglary and to feel safest in York are those who have lived in York for less than 5 years. This suggests that recent arrivals feel safer in York than in the locations they moved from.
Residents also link crime and disorder with factors such as drugs and alcohol, and consider young people as the most likely to commit crime. Statistically these views are generally correct. However York residents also suggest that they want to see a range of initiatives in place to divert and prevent young people from getting involved in crime. Young people are also far more likely to be the victims of crime themselves, particularly to be the victims of violent crimes.
The key findings and key messages from the Crime and Disorder Audit are:
Offenders
Key findings
- 21.7% of offenders are aged between 10 and 17.
- The proportion of offenders aged 10-17 has dropped from 28% in the Crime Audit 1999.
- 38% of all offenders are aged 17-24, 15.9% are aged 25-39 and 24.3% are aged 30 and over.
- 23.6% of offenders are women, compared with the 20% of offenders during the last crime audit.
- 57% of offenders are unemployed.
- Over 90% of offenders are local people.
- Alcohol misuse is a considered a contributory causal factor for 46% of offenders. Drugs misuse and financial issues are causal factors for 35% of offenders.
Key messages
- Substance misuse is a significant factor in offending within City of York.
- Proportionately offenders in the 10-17 age bracket are reducing with an increase in 18-24 year olds offending. This suggests that diversion activities and early intervention work are being successful.
- Offending by young women may be increasing. This should be an area investigated further in the coming months.
Victims
Key findings
- 42% of residents had direct experience of crime themselves in the last 2 years, and 75% of residents knew somebody else who was a crime victim in the last 2 years.
- 26% of all burglary victims were aged 25-34, with 19% aged 18-24. Just 14.5% of burglary victims were aged 65 and over.
- 60% of victims of vehicle crime were male.
- 30% of vehicle crime victims were aged 25-34. Just 3.7% of vehicle crime victims were aged 65 and over.
- 56% of victims of violent crime were male.
- 49.6% of victims of violent crime were aged up to 24. Just 3.1% of victims of violent crime were aged over 55.
Key messages
- Victims of crime should be encouraged to report incidents to the Police and provide as much information as possible, as so little hard data about the nature of victimisation is available.
- Older people are less likely to be victims of crime, particularly violent crime.
- Young people, while being perceived generally as the perpetrators of crime, suffer higher rates of victimisation from violent crime.
Domestic Burglary
Key findings
- The level of domestic burglary has reduced by over 40% since the last crime audit – from 40.3 per 1000 households in 1997/1998, to 23.9 per 1000 households in 2000/2001.
- 26% of all burglary victims were aged 25-34, with 19% aged 18-24. Just 14.5% of burglary victims were aged 65 and over.
- About 75% of residents say they are concerned about theft from their home. This is a slightly lower level of concern than in 1997.
- 4.2% of burglary addresses were victims of repeat burglaries.
- 46% of burglary offenders are aged 18-24, with a further 16% aged 10-17.
- Bootham ward had 71.7 burglaries per 1000 households during the 2 year audit period. Other above average wards included Bishophill (55.5 per 1000 households) and Walmgate (52.8).
- Wards outside the ring road have lower than average burglary rates. The lowest rate is in Wheldrake ward (5.4 per 1000 households).
Key messages
- The rate of domestic burglary has reduced by 40% between 1997/98 to 2000/01.
- The level of burglary varies by ward. Over the 2 year period of the audit, Bootham ward (the highest rate) had a burglary rate 13.3 times higher than Wheldrake ward (the lowest rate).
- Bootham ward has not seen the same scale of reduction in Burglary offences as other wards.
- Residents continue to perceive burglary as their major concern, both during the day and evening, as measured by the Talk About survey.
Vehicle Crime
Key findings
- Both thefts of motor vehicles, and thefts from motor vehicles fell by over 10% during the audit period.
- There were 1006 vehicle thefts in 1999/2000 and 877 in 2000/20001. This suggests a theft rate of 5.2 per 1000 population in 2000/2001.
- 19.6% of all reported vehicle thefts occurred in car parks.
- The number of cars stolen in car parks rose by 8.5% between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.
- There were 2493 thefts from vehicles in 1999/2000 and 2184 in 2000/2001 – giving a rate of 12 per 1000 population in 2000/2001.
- 31.3% of reported thefts from vehicles occurred in car parks. The number of thefts from cars in car parks fell by 6.4% between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.
- 96% of car thieves are male. Just 10.5% of car thieves are aged 25 and over.
- Guildhall and Bishophill wards suffer the highest car crime rates. This is primarily due to these wards being the location for a large majority of the city’s car parking spaces.
Key messages
- Vehicle crime is falling overall. Both thefts of and thefts from motor vehicles fell by over 10% between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.
- Vehicle crime is focused within central parts of the City, with Guildhall and Bishophill wards having the highest vehicle crime rates.
- An increasing proportion of vehicle crime is occurring in car parks.
Youth Crime and Disorder
Key findings
- 77.4% of offences committed by offenders aged 10-17 were committed by males.
- 24.8% of offences committed by offenders aged 10-17 were committed by 16 year olds.
- 31.7% of offences committed by offenders aged 10-17 were committed by 17 year olds.
- 34.4% of offences committed by offenders aged 10-17 were theft and handling offences.
- 55% of young offenders in contact with the Youth Offending Team had used an illegal substance at some time before being assessed.
- 17.3% of young offenders were persistent young offenders – i.e. they had committed offences resulting in 3 or more court convictions in the past 3 years.
Key messages
- Customer research suggests that residents see youth offending as a major concern, but that they also support innovative ways of preventing and diverting offending behaviour.
- Low-level nuisance and disorder continues to be perceived and linked to young people in many parts of the city.
- The proportion of young offenders involved in theft and handling stolen goods is above the regional and national level.
- Over 50% of young offenders had previously used illegal substances before coming into contact with the Youth Offending Team.
- Young offenders suggested that more leisure and educational initiatives were required for people aged 16-21.
Crime based on Prejudice
Key findings
- 70 racist incidents were reported to the Police in York during the 2 year period of the audit.
- In the 7 months from August 2000 to March 2001, Police logged 3 cases of homophobic assault and 10 cases of homophobic abuse or threats.
- National studies suggest there is significant under-reporting of hate crime, for example 82% of cases of homophobic abuse and violence incidents are not reported to police. If this was the case in York, there could be as many as 125 homophobic crime incidents each year.
Key messages
- It is likely that significant under-reporting of crimes based on prejudice still exists and increased reporting of hate crimes still needs to be encouraged.
- Work needs to continue to develop a more accurate picture of the nature and extent of hate crimes in York.
- Initiatives to confront prejudice which gives rise to hate crimes should continue.
Violent Crime
Key findings
- The number of robbery/theft from the person offences rose by 1.4%, from 288 in 1999/2000 to 292 in 2000/2001.
- The number of sexual crime offences rose by 7%, from 54 in 1999/2000 to 59 in 2000/2001.
- The number of assault and wounding offences recorded by Police fell by 14%, from 948 in 1999/2000 to 814 in 2000/2001.
- The way that domestic violence incidents are recorded altered during the audit period, which led to a rise in the apparent number of cases. During the first 6 months of 2001, 470 domestic violence incidents were reported to Police.
- Taken together, robbery and snatch thefts and sexual assaults account for just 1.7% of all offences recorded during the audit period.
- Assault and wounding offences account for just 4.9% of all offences recorded during the audit period.
Key messages
- During the period of the audit the number of robbery/theft offences and sexual crime offences rose slightly, but the number of assault and wounding offences recorded by Police fell by 14%.
- Data suggests that since the end of April 2001, there has been an increase in violent crime, although robbery and sexual assault offences still account for less than 1% of all recorded offences.
- The preparation for the audit suggests that better information is required on victims and offenders, and on the physical, emotional and financial impact of violent crimes.
- Continued work is needed to better understand the extent of domestic violence in York, and to encourage reporting of incidents to the police and other statutory and voluntary agencies.
Fear of Crime
Key findings
- Concern about going out alone has increased slightly since 1999 but is lower than in 1997, with 52% of residents concerned about going out alone at night, and 14% of residents concerned during the day.
- Long-term York residents are most likely to be concerned about going out alone.
- 4% of residents said crime had a great impact on their quality of life, while 8% of residents said the fear of crime had a great impact on their quality of life.
Key messages
- Despite the general reduction in crime levels over the last 2 years, in line with national trends, there is little evidence of a general reduction in residents’ fear of crime.
- In line with national data, York residents say fear of crime has a greater impact than their experience of actual crime.
- Fear of crime is strongly related to the level of crime and disorder in an area.
Drug and Alcohol Related Crime
Key findings
- During the 2 year audit period 406 people were arrested for Class A drugs offences.
- By far the most common illicit drug used is cannabis. 55% of all drug arrests were related to cannabis.
- 21% of drug arrests were related to heroin, and 15% involved ecstasy.
- The peak age for use of Class B drugs is 18-19, and for Class A drugs is 26.
- Alcohol misuse is a considered a contributory causal factor in 46% of offenders, and drug misuse in 35% of offenders.
- The majority of drug and alcohol related offences take place in the city centre.
Key messages
- Drugs misuse is an area of importance to the residents and businesses of York, and is commonly perceived locally as being a contributory factor in local crime.
- Further analysis of the level of local drug-related offending needs to be undertaken when the new Drugs Analyst is in post.
- Further local research is needed into the link between alcohol and offending.
Traffic Offences and Road Safety
Key findings
- During a 13-month period, traffic officers issued 493 endorsable hand-written speeding tickets.
- The majority of speeding tickets are issued on arterial routes into and out of the city centre. 56% of tickets, 274, are written in 30mph zones.
- There are about 1.5 traffic accidents per day in York, with about 1.3 people injured in each accident.
- 1.5% of accidents, 17, were fatal, and of these 76% involved only motor vehicles, with 17% involving pedestrians and 6% involving a cyclist.
- Accident hot-spots are most likely to be located at junctions, crossroads and roundabouts, with none on residential or unclassified roads.
Key messages
- Comparative data suggests there are comparatively few accidents on York’s roads, and fewer injuries. However there is a slightly higher fatality rate in York than the average for England.
- Enforcement campaigns are not seen as being generally effective as they can provide only limited coverage in terms of time and location.
- North Yorkshire Police work closely with the Highways and Transport sections of the Council’s Environment and Development Services department.
- They suggest the best way to reduce speed to more appropriate levels and to improve road safety is through road calming measures and road improvement and engineering.
Retail and Business Crime
Key findings
- There was a 5% fall in the recorded shoplifting rate during the 2 year audit period.
- There are an average of 145 shoplifting offences each month.
- About 75% of shoplifting offences are cleared up by police.
- The number of shoplifting offences in York city centre police beat areas has fallen by 12%. In a number of other beat areas (Acomb, Clifton Moor, Tang Hall) the number of offences has risen by over 10%.
Key messages
- There was a 5% fall in the recorded shoplifting rate during the audit period.
- Data from North Yorkshire Police suggests that the number of shoplifting offences being recorded has increased during the six months after the audit period ended.
- Shoplifting is the most common business crime recorded by police, but also one of the least costly. Respondents to the Business Panel Survey said shoplifting was the least serious form of crime they faced.
- There is some suggestion that shoplifting is being diverted from the city centre.
Crime Levels since April 2001
Most data in this Crime and Disorder Audit shows a reducing level of crime for most of the major crime categories during the period of the audit. However since the end of the period covered by this Audit (March 2001), some types of recorded crime in the city have started to rise, in common with the national trend. The next table compares recorded crime figures for the 6 months between April and September 2001 and the same period in 2000.
Compared to the same period in 2000, there have been an additional 799 crimes recorded, which makes an 8.2% rise in the total number of recorded crimes in York.
Breaking down the overall crime level, there have been increases in the number of some types of crime recorded, and falls in others. The largest percentage rises have been in robbery (up 40% but still less than 0.5% of all crime), and criminal damage (up 36% year on year). There have been 20% more cases of thefts from motor vehicles. However there have been fewer car thefts and fewer non-domestic burglaries than in the same period in 2000.
Category |
April to Sept 2000 |
April to Sept 2001 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
Assault and wounding (excluding assaults on police officers) |
404 |
437 |
+ 8.2% |
Sexual Assault |
36 |
43 |
+ 19.4% |
Robbery |
37 |
52 |
+ 40.5% |
Dwelling Burglary |
813 |
871 |
+ 7.1% |
Other Burglary |
1132 |
1043 |
- 7.9% |
Cycle Theft |
832 |
921 |
+ 10.7% |
Theft from Motor Vehicles |
1183 |
1423 |
+ 20.2% |
Theft of Motor Vehicles |
483 |
361 |
- 25.3% |
Criminal Damage |
1183 |
1611 |
+ 36.2% |
Shoplifting |
866 |
956 |
+ 10.4% |
Other Crime |
2782 |
2832 |
+ 1.8% |
Total |
9751 |
10550 |
+ 8.2% |
Source: North Yorkshire Police Area Summary 2001/2002
Safer York Partnership is clear that while the Crime and Disorder Audit of 1999-2001 suggests reducing levels of vehicle crime, violent crime and domestic burglary, these areas should continue to be priorities for action. In addition other areas such as disorder should be seen as priorities due to the rising amount of criminal damage experienced in the city.
Costs of Crime and Disorder
No local data on the cost of crime and disorder in York is available. Therefore the Crime and Disorder Audit has used national estimates of the cost of different types of crime to estimate how much crime costs York. This suggests the following level of costs incurred during 2000/2001, when there were 19,291 offences recorded by North Yorkshire Police in the York area.
Offence Category |
Number of offences recorded in 2000/2001 |
Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
Theft of and from Vehicles |
3061 |
£5.476m |
Violent offences[1] |
943 |
£8.978m |
Domestic Burglary |
1789 |
£4.115m |
Criminal Damage |
2612 |
£1.332m |
Other Theft and Acquisitive Crime |
6089 |
£2.070m |
Shoplifting and Non-domestic Burglary |
3879 |
£6.043m |
Other Crime[2] |
918 |
£1.836m |
All Recorded Crime |
19291 |
£29.850m |
In total, we estimate that recorded crime cost £29.85 million during 2000/2001. Of course not all crime and disorder is reported to Police, and not all crimes are then recorded by the Police. Therefore this is likely to be a significant under-estimate of the total cost of crime and disorder, much of which will be unmeasurable.
Map of City of York
Showing ward boundaries, main roads and urban areas.
Review of the 1999-2002 Crime Reduction Strategy
An important part of the process of reviewing the Crime Audit and developing 2002-2005 Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy is a review of the Crime Reduction Strategy for 1999 - 2002.
The first Crime Reduction Strategy for the City of York identified eight priority areas:
- Domestic Burglary
- Vehicle Crime
- Business Crime
- Disorder and Criminal Damage
- Domestic Violence
- Crime Based on Prejudice
- Drug and Alcohol Related Crime
- Young Offenders
Objectives and reduction targets were set for each of these priority areas. Proposed actions were also identified and these were expanded in working documents for the use of Safer York Partnership and other partners. The following sections show progress under the 8 priority areas.
Domestic Burglary
The strategy to tackle domestic burglary had proved highly effective in years 1 and 2 of the existing Crime Reduction Strategy, achieving a 20% reduction from 2236 domestic burglaries in 1998/99 to 1789 in 2000/2001. We are on course to exceed our initial target of a 10% reduction in domestic burglary over the three-year period.
The actions put in place to address domestic burglary include:
- Repeat Victimisation scheme offering security improvements to repeat or vulnerable victims.
- Age Concern Home Security Service offering security improvements to the homes of older people, who have been victims or are living in fear of crime.
- Specific environmental improvements in areas with high burglary and associated crime levels.
- Successful application for funding from central government under the Reducing Burglary Initiative to provide security improvements to a small area in Bootham and Clifton with the highest burglary rates in York.
- Launch of the Home Services Directory with Age Concern York, to reduce the risks of bogus callers and related distraction burglaries.
- Expansion of Neighbourhood Watch schemes.
- Advice leaflet now issued to all planning applicants regarding the principles of designing out crime.
Vehicle Crime
Vehicle crime is an area where our initial impact was significant with vehicle crime falling over the first two years from 4711 in 1998/1999 to 3061 in 2000/2001, a reduction of 35%. Although vehicle crime levels so far in 2001/2002 have risen again, overall we are likely to greatly exceed our target for reduction in vehicle crime of 10%.
In the area of vehicle crime, the most direct forms of crime reduction focus on making it more difficult or less attractive for offenders to target vehicles. A great deal of effort has been expended upon publicity campaigns to encourage owners to take steps to keep their own property safe. We have also worked with the major car park providers, particularly by adding security measures to those car parks with the highest vehicle crime rates.
Some of the actions we have put in place to combat vehicle crime are as follows:
- "Back to find it’s gone?" and "Lock it or lose it" publicity campaigns
- Successful Crime Reduction Programme CCTV Initiative application to expand car park coverage.
- Awareness raising initiatives targeting vehicle types suffering high levels of crime.
Business Crime
Safer York partnership has significant input from the business sector, not least in the membership of an active Business Crime Action Group. This action group has worked with businesses in an attempt to help them to minimise their risks of victimisation.
- Successful annual Business Crime Conferences held from March 2000.
- Business risk assessment guide published.
- Personal safety / violence in the workplace initiatives with York Health Services Trust and other settings.
- Retailers Against Crime in York expanded.
- Successful annual RACY Conferences.
- Training seminars on business crime.
Disorder and Criminal Damage
Levels of recorded criminal damage fell slightly in the first year of operation of the Crime Reduction Strategy, then rose by 5.7% by the end of the second year.
- Environmental improvements to particularly affected areas.
- Expansion of the Face to Face Mediation service.
- Guidance for professionals on dealing with neighbour nuisance.
- Effective use of the Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, with 11 Anti-Social Behaviour Orders obtained to date.
Domestic Violence
During the last three years much has been done to increase the range and quality of support services for those families where domestic violence is experienced.
We have seen a wide range of exciting and innovative actions in this field, such as:
- Domestic Violence Services Co-ordinator in post.
- New multi-agency Domestic Violence Prevention Project offering a coordinated service for victims, perpetrators and children affected by domestic violence.
- Innovative community and schools based work with young people around domestic violence.
- Domestic violence awareness supplement circulated with Yorkshire Evening Press.
Crime Based on Prejudice
Crime based on prejudice is another area where the initial Crime Reduction Strategy acknowledged the fact that there was significant underreporting of this crime type. Most of the work around this priority area has been to do with raising awareness and encouraging victims to come forward to gain access to services to support them.
- Innovative work in York schools on cultural awareness and equality issues – SPACE and Heartstone.
- Development of a Racial Harassment Strategy for York, including open reporting mechanisms and victim-focussed responses.
- Joint training, across many local agencies, on cultural awareness and racial harassment issues undertaken.
Drug and Alcohol Related Crime
Measurement of drugs and alcohol-related crime continues to be difficult, so firm figures are not available for the numbers of crimes caused by drugs or alcohol misuse. There is no doubt, however, that such misuse is a significant factor in local offending patterns. During the period of our first Crime Reduction Strategy we have increased the links between those working to tackle drugs and alcohol misuse and crime reduction, which has led to some innovative local developments.
Some of the key activities relating to drugs and alcohol misuse and offending are as follows:
- Combination of the Court based Drugs Worker and Arrest Referral schemes to make a comprehensive service offering offenders the chance to access drug treatment and support services.
- "Is there a solution?" video on solvent abuse produced by local young people.
- Multi-agency working group tackling the issue of drugs litter in York, leading to the development of a highly effective Mobile Outreach scheme for drugs users within the City Centre.
- Specific work by partner agencies, such as North Yorkshire Police, in geographical locations with high levels of such crime.
- Drink and Drugs Misuse awareness supplement circulated with Yorkshire Evening Press.
- Development of services at Chapelfields Community Centre.
- Establishment of a supported housing service for those engaged in or at risk of drugs misuse.
- Physical design changes to areas badly affected by drugs misuse.
- Creation by North Yorkshire Police of the new Drugs Squad, including a drugs analyst to increase intelligence on drugs markets.
- Implementing the Young People’s Alcohol Confiscation Scheme.
Young Offenders
Our initial strategy focussed upon the need to establish the Youth Offending Team, as the key force for action in the field of young offenders. Operational in November 2000, a number of national funding allocations have allowed the Youth Offending Team to expand its work towards the preventative, and to meet the needs of the most persistent young offenders more fully.
Some key developments here include:
- Victim / Offender Mediation service developed enabling young people to face up to the consequences of their offending.
- Establishment of a Bail Supervision programme aimed at reducing offending by young people awaiting sentence in the courts.
- Development of a Final Warning programme to provide interventions earlier when young people start offending.
- Introduction of the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme for persistent young offenders.
We have also invested a great deal of time and effort in seeking to prevent young people from getting involved in crime, using actions such as:
- Network 2 Mentoring scheme for young people at risk offending.
- Multi-agency Truancy Watch patrols.
- Link between University students and Youth Action Groups in secondary schools to undertake work to improve school communities.
- Innovative educational development work in York East Partnership Project, including the York East Arts Project, YEAST.
- Developing an Early Intervention Strategy to ensure that young people at risk offending receive the help and support they need to ensure that they do not become involved in ongoing offending.
The new Crime Audit figures show a drop in the proportion of offenders who are between the ages of 10-17 from 28% to 22%, which suggests that our focus upon prevention and early intervention has been successful.
Statement of Provisional Priorities for 2002-2005
The analysis in the Crime and Disorder Audit is based upon data from a two-year period ending in March 2001. In general it suggests positive declining trends in crime within the City. During April to September 2001, since the Crime Audit period, we have seen crime increasing in most of the major crime groups. Safer York Partnership has reviewed the priorities proposed in this strategy alongside these changing trends. We are confident that the profile of crime in the City remains adequately addressed by the provisional priorities set out below.
The information from the Crime and Disorder Audit combined with the findings of the consultation process and national evidence about crime reduction has enabled us to identify a number of areas upon which to concentrate work. Allocating time and resources to these areas will have a positive impact upon crime and disorder in York.
The 6 strategic priorities provisionally chosen for crime reduction in York for 2002-2005 are:
- Building Safer Communities
- Drugs and Alcohol - tackling drug and alcohol related crime
- High Volume Crime
- Prevention of Youth Offending
- Violent Crime
- Working with Offenders - to change offending behaviour
The section below sets out why these 6 priorities have been chosen, and the key objectives under each priority. The Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy document will be set out in a similar way, but will also include success measures for Safer York Partnership to work towards, and will set out short term actions and longer term developments during 2002-2005.
In addition to the six priorities described below, Safer York Partnership will also set itself a seventh priority for its own organisational development, which is required to ensure delivery of the strategy programme during the next 3 years.
Building Safer Communities
Reasons for Choice:
- Crime and disorder takes place within local communities.
- Resident involvement and engagement can help to reduce crime and disorder.
- A sense of community is generated by the cohesiveness of neighbourhoods and the ability of residents to accept their role and responsibilities as neighbours.
- Crime reduction and anti-social behaviour cannot be tackled by agencies alone. Local residents offer the greatest resource, in the fight against crime.
- Research shows the fear of crime has a more detrimental effect on the quality of life than actual crime, irrespective of age. 52% of people from the Talk About survey were concerned about going out alone in the evening and at night in the area where they live.
- There is a wide gap between the importance residents ascribe to safety from crime and violence and their satisfaction with what is currently being done (CYC Talk About survey).
Provisional Key Objectives:
- To encourage and inspire residents to engage in their community in order to make real improvements to their neighbourhoods.
- To improve two-way communication on crime-related issues to enhance public knowledge of the diverse range of initiatives provided by partner agencies that can contribute to making York safer and to improve agencies’ understanding of public needs.
- To build up the profile of and faith in Safer York Partnership and other agencies working in partnership to reduce crime.
- To encourage residents vigilance and willingness to report incidents and to promote this as a valuable contribution to local crime fighting.
- To promote a greater dialogue and unity between all age groups living in a neighbourhood.
- To work with the community to enhance the design of neighbourhoods to maximise security.
Drugs and Alcohol
Reasons for Choice:
- As much as 80% of all crime may be related to the offender’s drug and alcohol use.
- Cost to the community amounts to many millions of pounds each year. The cost to the Criminal Justice system alone is in excess of £500,000,000 a year.
- There is steadily increasing community concern about drug and alcohol misuse impacting negatively on community well being.
- Evidence shows a strong link between alcohol and crimes of violence.
Provisional Key Objectives:
- To reduce the levels of drug and alcohol related crime in the City.
- To support and strengthen the community to reduce the negative impact of drug and alcohol misuse.
- To enable people with drug and alcohol related problems to overcome them and live healthy and crime free lives.
- To provide opportunity for young people to achieve their full potential.
- To disrupt and reduce the supply of illegal drugs and prevent the sale of alcohol to under 18s.
High Volume Crime
Reasons for Choice:
- Vehicle crime, domestic burglary and retail crime accounts for about 58% of all crime committed in York.
- York's level of reported crime in these areas is above average nationally when compared with other similar cities.
- Residents and businesses identify these crimes as being of major concern.
- Government has set explicit targets for reduction of Vehicle Crime and Domestic Burglary.
Provisional Key Objectives:
- To reduce the volume of these crimes by reducing the incentives and opportunities.
- To increase the likelihood of detection and conviction.
- To reduce the tolerance of these crimes.
Prevention of Youth Offending
Reasons for Choice:
- Prevention of youth offending will achieve a long-term sustained impact on the overall level of crime and disorder and enable young people to live crime free lives.
- Local people express a high level of concern about young people’s involvement in crime and disorder and there is a high level of support for actions to divert young people away from crime and towards positive citizenship.
- Young people aged 10-17 years old form 22% of known offenders in York (Crime Audit 2002).
Provisional Key Objectives:
- To prevent young people from becoming involved in crime.
- To identify the reasons and factors which place young people ‘at risk’ from involvement in crime e.g. poor parenting, and develop effective responses to them.
- To increase young people’s involvement in constructive leisure activities.
- To reduce youth anti-social behaviour.
- To provide skills and support for positive parenting.
- To increase the number of young people in education, training and employment.
Violent Crime
Reasons for Choice:
- Robbery with violence in York has been increasing in the months after the Crime Audit period.
- Significant under-reporting of violent crime exists. Police may record as little as 18% of all violent crime (British Crime Survey 2001).
- Violent crime has a potentially severe personal impact upon victims.
- Data on victims and offenders is very limited.
- Consultation indicates that there is significant public concern about street robbery and violent crime despite its relatively low incidence.
Provisional Key Objectives:
- To reduce the incidence of robberies.
- To continue to improve reporting of violent street crime, domestic violence, racial, homophobic, and sexual crime.
- To monitor and evaluate recent activity in this area.
- To develop a better response to victims of violent crime.
- To provide help for perpetrators of violence to reduce offending behaviour.
- To provide young people with access to current information and programmes relating to violent crime.
- To improve the depth of quantitative and qualitative data relating to victims and offenders, to create accurate profiles.
- To improve detection rates for violent crime.
Working with Offenders
Reasons for choice:
- Offenders are not homogenous group, each is an individual whose life possesses unique factors. Tackling and reducing long established patterns of offending is therefore complex and difficult, but nevertheless offers an important opportunity for long-term crime reduction.
- Local people identified working with offenders as a key priority for reducing crime in the City.
Provisional key objectives:
- To intervene effectively using “what works” methods of intervention to reduce re-offending by offenders under supervision.
- To expand work in partnership on specific issues relating to offending behaviour, e.g. perpetrators of domestic violence.
- To supervise offenders to Home Office and Youth Justice Board national standards and enforce court orders rigorously.
- To assess and manage risk of harm posed by potentially dangerous offenders or those who are the most persistent in their offending.
Key Contacts
These organisations have been actively involved in preparing this document, along with others. Please feel free to contact them to find out more about their contribution to crime reduction activity in the City of York.
Safer York Partnership
01904-554567
North Yorkshire Police - Community Safety Unit
01904-554615
City of York Council - Strategic Policy Unit
01904-613161
Drug Action Team
01347-823084
Youth Offending Team
01904-554565
Other useful contacts, if you are a victim of crime or if you wish to get involved in local crime reduction activity.
Age Concern York
01904-627995
for advice and support for older people on community safety issues
City of York Council
01904-613161
for information on Ward Committees
City of York Neighbourhood Watch Association
01904-554616
for information on how to join or set up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme
Compass Drugs Resource Scheme
01904-647474
for advice, information and counselling on drug misuse
Crimestoppers
0800-555111
NSPCC Domestic Violence Prevention Project
01904-430455
for support for anyone experiencing or involved in domestic violence
North Yorkshire Police
- Call Centre (24 Hour)
01904-631321
to report suspicious activity or information about a crime- Incident Management Unit (8am – 6pm)
01904-669389
for other queries
Rape Crisis
01904-425353
Thursdays 7pm – 10pm (answerphone at other times)
Victim Support York and Selby
01904-636905
Women's Aid
01904-646630
for advice and support for women experiencing domestic violence
Witness Support Service
- Magistrates Court
01904-637778- Crown Court
01904-655497
Safer York Partnership would like to thank all those who have contributed to this work, by providing data for analysis, views and feedback on matters of concern, or by assisting in the actual production of this document.
Although Safer York Partnership has produced the document, it is genuinely the product of many, with contributions having been received from various partners and representatives of the local community.