UK Police Priorities

With confusing crime statistics and misleading media reports it is difficult to ascertain whether the everyday threat of crime within the UK is on the increase. It is commonly felt from within the security industry that crime is on the rise and with police priorities shifting, in recent years, away from burglary and violent crimes, the emphasis for security is being placed on the homeowners themselves.

Whether part of a solutions package, or a single requirement, Westacre can provide an independent and objective assessment of security threats and vulnerabilities for both commercial and private clients.

John Apter, the Chair of the Police Federation, has called for ‘common sense’ in deciding on setting police priorities. Read his comments here.

Police forces across the UK recently made a U-turn in their assessment of crime figures, so rather than assuring the public that crime was down, they now claim that crime is up. Many police forces blame the increases on changes to the way crime is recorded and an increased confidence of victims to report crimes. Whether this is the case is debatable, but there are certainly some crimes which are unlikely to be reported more or less, regardless of how they are recorded or how confident victims feel - burglary for example, is a crime which was always reported to the Police, and this is unlikely to change whilst there is a chance victims can be reunited with their stolen possessions or whilst insurance companies demand crime numbers for claims.

A common theory across the security industry is that the police U-turn in admitting crime is actually on a sharp increase is an attempt to secure more central funding from the government - funding won’t be increased if crime is down, as that means the current budgets are working well, but if crime is up then there can be a demand for increased funding.