The Effects of Burglary

Geography essay

The hazards of burglary have significannot

impacts on people and the environment in which they live, and these impacts can be identified easily. Consequently, these hazards can be both prevented and/or managed effectively

· Identify the impacts of this hazard:

· Describe the responses that have been made to prevent and/or manage this hazards

· Discuss the effectiveness of these responses

Burglary

n. pl. burglaries

The act of entering a building or other premises with the intent to commit theft.

Impacts:

The hazard of burglary can take several forms:

· Removal of goods from property

· Damage to property caused when trying to gain entry.

· Invasion of property

· Psychological damage (fear of crime)

People feel distraught if they are repeatedly burgled- its an invasion of their private life by strangers with no respect for property. It can also be very upsetting, and especially in the case of elderly people, paranoia can set in.

Psychological damage can affect someone so severely that they barricade themselves in their property. People (particularly the elderly) have died in house fires because their homes were so tightly secured that the fire services could not reach them and they could not escape in time. In Kent, may 2000; a case was reported in which 2 elderly people were overcome by fumes when trapped by a fire in their bungalow. The police reported that they had 3 locks on each door and another 3 locks on each internal door.

Burglary also stops people trusting each other, and so community spirit is broken.

If an area is a hotspot for burglaries, it will suffer visually, with broken windows and rubbish outside the houses. These negative images tend to turnoff potential buyers into the area. Existing locals may choose to move away from the area, causing abandoned buildings to add to the feel of poverty in the area. This in turn will have an effect on the local economy.

If the amount of money being projected into the local area is decreasing, then as poverty increases, so will crime, as crime and poverty tend to go hand in hand.

Responses:

One strategy to deter potential burglars is to install a “fake alarm”. It looks like a real burglar alarm and is placed outside the house to deceive anyone thinking of burgling the house. These tend to be fairly effective, as the burglar can’t tell the difference between the fake and the real thing. They are usually used by those who cannot

afford to cater for a proper alarm, or those who have a hectic lifestyle, with people constantly going in and out of the house, meaning they’re not practical.

Insurance companies “predict” crime in an area when they set insurance premiums. It’s difficult to distinguish between and protection when dealing with burglary. At its roots, though, prevention is not about increased home security, but entails looking at and trying to tackle the reasons why people commit crimes.

In the UK, for example, a large amount of burglary is drug related, and authorities have therefore promoted schemes to get people off drugs. In the longer term, this will hopefully result in a reduction in crime.

Unemployment levels are often connected with crime, and the governments think up strategies to increase employment and so cut down on crime.

Many youth policies aimed at getting young people off the streets and into work or leisure programmes result in crime reduction.

This can include arranged activities designed for young people in school holidays, particularly the long summer one.

People can either work individually or collectively to protect their property:

Individually they can:

· Use devices such as alarms, walls, fences, window locks, security lighting and guard dogs to protect their property.

· Take out adequate insurance to cover their losses