O ve rvie w
Pro perty crime refers here to all crimes ag ainst the pro perty o f individuals o r ho useho lds where threats o r vio lence were no t used o n the victim. It therefo re co vers burg lary, vario us theft and handling o ffences, vehicle crime and criminal damag e, but no t ro bbery, and no t o ffences ag ainst businesses, institutio ns, the public secto r o r o ther o rg anisatio ns. Table 4 .2 g ives a summary o f finding s.
Table 4.2: Average cost estimates for property crimes against individuals and households
Categ o ry o f co st Best estimate (£ per incident)
Burg lary in Theft – no t All vehicle Criminal
a dwelling vehicle Crime damag e
2 7 The averag e co sts sho wn are therefo re much lo wer than tho se no rmally publicised. Fo r example, the CJS co st per perso n pro ceeded ag ainst fo r criminal damag e in 1 9 9 7 was estimated at aro und £ 1 0 ,0 0 0 (excluding po lice co sts), whereas the averag e co st per o ffence co mmitted was aro und £ 3 0 (ag ain excluding po lice co sts).
This reflects the difference between the number o f perso ns pro ceeded ag ainst (1 7 ,0 0 0 ) and the number o f o ffences (nearly 6 millio n).
Burg lary in a dwe lling
Burg lary in a dwelling co vers burg lary and ag g ravated burg lary. The fig ures in Table 4 .2 are averag e co st fig ures fo r actual burg laries, rather than reco rded burg laries (which are likely to have a hig her unit co st). Expenditure o n security amo unts to aro und £ 3 0 0 per burg lary. The averag e expenditure per ho useho ld will be much lo wer than this, since o nly a small pro po rtio n o f ho useho lds are burg led in a g iven year. O ver £ 8 0 0 o f pro perty is sto len o r damag ed, and co sts to the criminal justice system amo unt to nearly £ 5 0 0 per incident, whether o r no t the o ffender is caug ht o r fo und g uilty. Tho se burg laries fo r which an o ffender is b ro ug ht to justic e a nd g iven a c usto dia l sentenc e will o b vio usly a ttra c t muc h hig her averag e co sts. In to tal, burg laries co st o n averag e aro und £ 2 ,3 0 0 per incident, with victims bearing mo st o f this co st.2 8 This averag e masks wide variatio ns between types o f burg lary, with attempts, fo r example, likely to co st sig nificantly less than burg laries with lo ss.
Ve hicle crime
Vehicle crime ag ainst individuals enco mpasses thefts o f vehicles and ag g ravated vehicle taking , thefts fro m vehicles, and incidents where an attempt was made to steal a vehicle o r pro perty within it. It has been po ssible to separate these into individual estimates. This can pro ve useful, especially in cases where initiatives o r interventio ns fo cus o n particular types o f vehicle crime.
3 6
The economic and social costs of crime
2 8 The estimates do no t include insurance claimed, which will reduce the co st to the victim. N either do they include insurance premiums, which will increase co sts in anticipatio n o f crime.
Table 4.3: Average cost estimates for theft of, theft from and attempted theft of/ from vehicles
Categ o ry o f co st Best estimate (£ per incident)
Theft o f Theft fro m Attempted All vehicle vehicle vehicle vehicle theft crime
In anticipation of crime 690 70 30 120
Defensive (security) expenditure 3 7 0 4 0 2 0 7 0
Insurance administratio n 3 2 0 2 0 9 5 0
2 Attempted vehic le theft estima tes ha ve b een used in preferenc e to estima tes fo r vehic le interferenc e a nd tampering , a new no tifiable o ffence fro m April 1 9 9 8 that attempts to bring to g ether criminal damag e to a mo to r vehicle with attempted vehicle thefts. This is because the estimates are based larg ely o n British Crime Survey data o n the victim co st o f attempted vehicle theft rather than interference o r tampering .
3 7 Estimates and analysis
By far the mo st co stly crimes in this categ o ry, as wo uld be expected, are thefts o f vehicles, co sting between £ 3 ,7 0 0 and £ 5 ,6 0 0 per incident o n averag e, mo re than 8 times g reater than the co st o f thefts fro m a vehicle, and mo re than 1 6 times g reater than attempted vehicle the fts. Aro und £ 4 0 0 is sp e nt p e r ye a r o n a d d -o n se c urity me a sure s p e r ve hic le the ft (altho ug h per vehicle the fig ure is much less), and insurance administratio n co sts ano ther
£ 3 0 0 . The mo st co stly element o f a vehicle crime is the value o f the pro perty sto len and burg lary. This larg ely reflects the lo wer likeliho o d o f o ffenders being bro ug ht to justice per vehicle crime than per burg lary.3 0
This categ o ry enco mpasses theft fro m the perso n, theft o f pedal cycles, vehicle interference a nd ta mpe ring , the ft in a dwe lling , a nd a ll o the r sub -g ro ups in the no tifia b le o ffe nc e categ o ry o f theft and handling sto len g o o ds o ther than vehicle crime and theft fro m a sho p.
It is therefo re a very wide-rang ing categ o ry, and as such, the estimates g iven here will be subject to wide marg ins o f erro r when analysing co sts fo r any particular sub-g ro up.
The majo rity o f the averag e co st per theft o f £ 3 4 0 falls o n victims. Half the to tal co sts are pro perty sto len and damag ed. The emo tio nal impact o f the crime co uld acco unt fo r ano ther third o f the co st per incident. Co sts o f the criminal justice pro cess acco unt fo r a further £ 9 0 per incident. There are few alternative estimates available that wo uld g ive us a better idea o f the sensitivity o f these fig ures. value o f reco vered vehicles asked in the 1 9 9 8 British Crime Survey.
3 0 There were an estimated 3 .6 5 millio n vehicle crimes in to tal in 1 9 9 8 / 9 9 , and 1 6 ,4 0 0 o ffenders fo und g uilty in the co urts in 1 9 9 8 fo r vehicle crimes. Fo r burg lary the fig ures are 1 .4 9 millio n and 3 9 ,1 0 0 respectively. N o fig ures are available o n the co st per perso n pro ceeded ag ainst fo r vehicle crime, so direct co mpariso ns are difficult.
Criminal damag e
The co st estimates fo r criminal damag e in Table 4 .2 relate o nly to criminal damag e ag ainst individuals and ho useho lds. Criminal damag e ag ainst co mmercial and public secto r targ ets is dealt with later. Criminal damag e includes arso n, racially mo tivated criminal damag e and va rying deg rees o f da ma g e a nd destruc tio n o f pro perty. Unfo rtuna tely, due to a sma ll number o f cases in the British Crime Survey it has no t been po ssible to separate o ut arso n fro m o ther c rimina l da ma g e. Arso n c a n b e a serio us o ffenc e invo lving lo ss o f life a nd pro pe rty, a nd the fe w c a se s o f a rso n inc lude d will infla te the c o st e stima te s fo r o the r criminal damag e. The small number o f cases o f racially mo tivated criminal damag e in the BCS also means that it is no t po ssible to g ive a separate estimate fo r this categ o ry.
Ag ain, few alternative estimates fo r criminal damag e were available to subject the best estimates to sensitivity analysis. Pro perty sto len and damag ed amo unted to aro und £ 2 0 0 , as did the emo tio nal impact per o ffence. The co st o f criminal justice was £ 6 0 per incident, and security and insurance measures ag ainst criminal damag e co st o n averag e £ 3 0 .