Contacts:
Telephone 999 for emergency and 101 for non-emergencies where:

• Police attendance is required.
• To report a crime or other incident.

Ten principles of crime prevention

When considering crime reduction strategies, crime reduction officers use the "Ten Principles of Crime Prevention" in order to achieve a good standard of security advice for the site. These are reproduced below together with examples where they might apply.

When you are thinking about securing your place of worship, use these ten principles as a checklist starting with the perimeter of the premises and working your way in to the centre of the building, considering all ten principles at each stage.

You can also use this advice to approach improving security in your own home or the homes of vulnerable people in your community.

1. Target hardening Making targets more resistant to attack or difficult to remove/damage etc. (Fitting better doors, windows, shutters. Window locks, door locks, burglar alarms. Screens in banks and building societies. Repairing damage to property to reduce the possibility of crime or repeat victimisation etc.)
2. Target removal Permanent or temporary removal of vulnerable persons or property. (Replacing coin meters on gas and electricity systems in homes, replacing coin boxes in booths with card phones, removing radios from parked cars, jewellery from shop windows at night etc.)
3. Removing the means to commit crime Trying to promote good work and management practices ensures that material capable of being used to help the criminal commit crime is not left lying around with easy access. Similar for domestic properties. (Building material such as scaffolding poles, tools, ladders, garden tools etc are secured or stored in a safe place. Restricting availability and access to means to commit crime, for example recent firearms and knife regulations. Use of plastic glasses in venues where there is a likelihood or potential for trouble or disorder).
4. Reducing the payoff Employing means to reduce the value of loss if a crime is committed. (The use of a main safe plus a time-lock floor safe to reduce cash value in the till, property marking, post coding, use of replica for display purposes.
5. Access control Restricting access to sites, buildings or parts of sites or buildings (through the use of identity systems, proximity card readers, baggage screening, entry/exit systems etc).
6. Surveillance
   • Natural – maximising routine surveillance by residents, employees and the community (pruning or removal of shrubbery, improving or installing lighting, increasing usage of neighbourhood watch, business watch etc).
   • Formal – using technology and staff to deter and identify potential and actual offenders (deployment of police and security staff, store detectives, caretakers, utilising alarm systems, CCTV etc).
   • Employee – encouraging non-specialist staff to be vigilant (receptionists, counter staff, till operators, office staff, managers etc).
7. Environmental Design Using changes in the environment of a building, a site, an estate or town, to reduce crime opportunities (pedestrianisation of shopping areas in towns, using planters, bollards, seating, fixtures, garden areas etc to make premises less vulnerable).

8. Rule Setting Introduction of legislation, bylaws, codes of conduct, to attain acceptable social behaviour (wearing of ID badges, local rules regarding consumption of alcohol in the street or public places, internal rules within business, commerce, public services etc).

9. Increase the chance of being caught Management and use of security and technology, use of plain clothes security staff. (Monitoring, recording, system management of CCTV. Maintenance of security equipment. Training of security personnel and non-security staff etc).
10. Deflecting Offenders Diverting offenders and potential offenders from committing crime. Working with other agencies to influence standards, thinking and attitudes. Education programmes. (Multi-agency work, schools programmes, youth groups or organisations, work experience and training etc).