Vandalism Prevention Measures
What is Criminal Damage?
Criminal damage refers to crimes where any person without lawful
excuse intentionally or recklessly destroys or damages any property
belonging to another. Criminal damage, often referred to as
vandalism, includes graffiti, arson and other forms of damage to
property, including vehicles. There are a broader range of crimes
within the criminal damage category with vandalism being the most
significant one.
Perhaps the most common is damage to cars parked on the street –
such as smashed windows, broken wing mirrors and aerials,
windscreen wipers ripped off and scratches to the body work.
The next most common is damage to peoples own property - stones
or bricks thrown through windows, walls and fences being kicked
over, garden ornaments smashed and shrubs and plants uprooted and
destroyed.
Another is damage to council property such as bus shelters,
parks and children’s play areas - and the use of graffiti on walls
and buildings.
What isn't Criminal Damage?
Anything that results in non-permanent damage (i.e. that can be
rectified, cleaned off or removed at no cost) is not considered to
be criminal damage - for example letting down car tyres.
Damage around a point of entry to a house or vehicle also isn't
criminal damage and should instead be treated as attempted burglary
/ vehicle crime.
Who is responsible?
Most is committed by white males aged between 11 and 25 years of
age, although predominantly the offender is under 21 years old. It
is often a result of sheer boredom with young offenders finding
little to do and looking for some excitement, a 'buzz', or using it
to vent their frustration. It can also be used as a form of revenge
against somebody that has annoyed the offender. A great deal of it
is fuelled by alcohol and it tends to be opportunist -criminal
damage is seldom planned.
One exception though is graffiti which is one of the few types
of criminal damage that is usually planned. Many types of graffiti
include a 'tag' which is a 'signature' that the 'artist' leaves
behind to demonstrate to others that it is their work.
How can you prevent Criminal Damage?
You may be surprised to hear that nearly half of all criminal
damage is caused by items such as stones, stick, bricks and rocks
left lying around in streets and gardens and picked up and thrown
through windows.
Criminals committing this type of damage do not deliberately
leave their homes with a hand full of stones or other articles
intending to do damage to other people’s property. This type of
damage is usually impulsive where an offender sees a stone or a
brick and thinks "what can I damage with this" or again, on
impulse, decides to damage a window and then look for something
close at hand to achieve their purpose. Not only does this cost us
all a great deal of money, it also increases our insurance premiums
and the fear of crime to higher levels.
It therefore follows that if we can remove the stones and other
items from view, we can eliminate a great deal of the criminal
damage caused in our communities. It only takes a few simple
measures to prevent this type of crime happening to us and
blighting our neighbourhoods. Even people carrying out house
extensions or new builds can help by ensuring that building sites
are secure and that they do not use gravel drives, pebbles, or
brick walls and wooden fences which will get kicked over or broken.
The debris of these items can then end up in someone's car or front
room.
To find out more about preventing Criminal Damage contact the
North Cumbria Community Safety Team on 0845 33 00
247.