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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the displacement of crime from areas subject to intensive policing initiatives to neighbouring areas. [155874] Ms Blears: Research in London has found very little evidence of geographic or functional displacement as a consequence of the Street Crime Initiative (SCI). While there was some evidence of local shifts within the boroughs, this was not considered significant. Under the Crime Reduction Programme there were a number of evaluations which included some estimation of whether activity had led either to a displacement of crime, or conversely to what is termed a diffusion of benefits (reductions in crime across a larger area, or across a wider range of crime types, than were being targeted). For instance a report detailing the impact of 63 evaluated Reducing Burglary Initiative (RBI) projects is soon to be published, and this report will include estimates of displacement and diffusion of benefits. Under the RBI, a methodological report was also produced by one of the evaluation teams that examined the complex issue of how one measures crime displacement, and proposed a new statistical technique for doing so. However, it has to be acknowledged that there remains no agreed methodology for assessing whether policing initiatives result in a displacement of crime or a diffusion of benefits. Nevertheless, past research evidence from outside the Home Office indicates that displacement of crime resulting from police or related crime reduction activities is by no means inevitable, and indeed crime reduction gains usually outweigh any possible displacement of crime.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

418 c437-8W;418 c457-8W; 155874

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Crime prevention Crime Police Location

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk