ABE
The state the country has reached on crime
The state the country has reached on crime is staggering. Crime and the way
it has affected society has totally changed the way of life of most people in
this country. Nottingham City Council spends a large amount of ratepayers money
on committees, meetings, and minutes. These minutes get printed in bulk and get
circulated to everybody they think may find them useful. I am a local
Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator and Acting Secretary of the local Residents'
Association (not very active in either field, I have to admit) and receive
various documents by Royal Mail. A very recent one shows just how far the
country has descended since I was a young man, and never considered being
burgled or mugged in the street. This was probably due to the fact that being
caught had far more unpleasant effects then than it does today. Below is a copy
of a three-page glossary I recently received giving terms used relating to
doorstep-crime.
Don't get me wrong, I am not criticising Nottingham City Council in this
particular instance although there is plenty to criticise in other areas, but in
this case, they are doing their best to overcome the problems that various
post-war governments have inflicted on the country. But to have to distribute a
glossary of terms just shows the position we are now at. One doesn’t talk about
being burgled or being swindled any more, it is necessary to specify what sort
of swindle you have suffered, and you must use the right terminology. And so you
have no excuse for getting it wrong, NCC publish this glossary
Further to the glossary that takes up a measurable amount of Council time, there
are now two fairly new industries set up in Britain. One to try and cheat the
public, and the other to try and protect the public from aforesaid cheats, Tony
Blaire tells us that the economy is doing well. Which economy is he referring
to?
I think the structure of the sentences of the glossary is very poor, but the
intention was probably to be succinct. I do not believe that I have made any
typographical errors in the copying, so readers are able to use their own
judgement.
One distinct error I have duplicated is the use of an incorrect SI Unit. A
lower-case ‘m’ means "milli" and not "mega". This is a common misuse of the SI
System, particularly by newspapers. I consider the word "smartwater"
should have had a capital initial letter as it is a technique used by the police
to mark valuable items in a manner that is far from obvious.
Term
Definition
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Artifice burglary | See distraction burglary
|
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Bogus caller | Intends to carry
out distraction burglary. Often a |
| | bogus official.
|
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Bogus
| Generic term for distraction burglary and bogus
|
| offences/offenders | property repairs
|
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Bogus official | Person who gains entry to
property by claiming to |
|
| be from official agency or utility company; then
|
|
| carries out burglary usually by distracting
|
|
| householder. A form of distraction burglary.
|
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Bogus property | Any situation where someone
purporting to be a |
|
| legitimate trader obtains money for little
or no work, |
|
| or work of very poor quality. Their aim is to make |
|
| money by deception -- they are bogus traders rather |
|
| than bad traders.
|
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Burglary Reduction | Jointly police/city council initiative. Carry
out risk |
|
| assessments of burgled properties and provide
|
|
| various target hardening measures including
|
|
| smartwater. Currently running projects promoting
|
|
| smartwater in high burglary areas. Also providing
|
|
| education services |
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Burglary Task | Part of CDRP. Representatives of police, various |
Group
| Council departments, youth offending team etc.
|
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Cancellation rights | Consumers have 7 days to cancel a contract signed at
|
|
| home following an unsolicited visit. They should be |
|
|given a written notice explaining these rights.
|
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| CICA
| Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Administers |
|
| criminal injuries compensation scheme for victims of
|
| | violent crime.
|
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| CDRP
| Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership. Each district |
|
| authority area has a CDRP -- a combination of police, |
|
| local authority and other organisations and businesses. |
|
| It develops and implements strategies for tackling crime |
|
| on local level. |
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Cold-calling | Unsolicited sales
phone calls or visits. Offering |
|
| goods or services to consumers without being expressly |
|
| invited to do so. Includes visits made following
|
|
|unsolicited telephone calls.
|
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Cowboy builders | Any property repairer who does a
bad job or charges |
|
| extortionate amounts for work, May not be bogus or |
|
| itinerant.
|
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Distraction burglary | Burglar where caller tricks householder into allowing |
|
| entry to property (hence the term artifice burglary). |
|
| Victim usually distracted while caller or accomplice |
|
| carries out theft. May be in guise of bogus official, |
|
|someone with sick child, motorist with car problems |
|
|etc.
|
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Distraction Burglary | Home Office led. Published good practice toolkit. See |
|
| Task Force
|
| |www.crimereduction.gov.uk/boguscaller1.htm
|
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Doorstep sellers | A person selling goods or services at
the door. May |
|
| be legitimate or bogus.
|
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Doorstep Selling | Consumer Protection (Cancellation of
contracts |
|
| regulations concluded away from business premises)
|
|
| Regulations 1987. Make it a criminal offence not to
|
|
| give written cancellation rights for contracts concluded |
|
| as result of unsolicited visit. Without cancellation rights |
|
| the contract is also unenforceable.
|
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
Glossary of doorstep crime terms
Nottingham City Council Trading Standards – November 2001
|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
|
| DTI
| Department of Trade and Industry. Government
|
|
|department responsible for many areas of consumer
|
|
| law including product safety and doorstep selling.
|
| | Currently consulting on legislation to make cold-calling
|
|
| for property repairs etc illegal.
|
|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| EMCOTS
| East Midlands Coordination on Trading Standards.
|
|
| All TS authorities in East Midlands working together |
|
| to ensure coordinated enforcement advice,
|
|
| education etc. Has a Community Safety Delivery
|
|
| Group that primarily deals with doorstep crime and a |
|
| newly appointed Community Safety Regional
|
|
| Coordinator (Laura Glaves) |
|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Enterprise Act | The Office of Fair Trading and other bodies
|
| 2002
| responsible for consumer law enforcement
|
|
| e.g. Trading Standards have powers to seek court
|
|
| orders against businesses that breach some consumer |
|
| protection laws. It is not a means of gaining individual |
|
| redress -- it applies to infringements that harm the
|
|
| collective interest of consumers. However, it can apply |
|
| in cases where there are no criminal offences but
|
|
| breaches of the civil Sale of Goods Act and Supply
|
|
| of Goods and Services Act.
|
|---------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| Enforcement Order | Under the Enterprise Act, enforcement
bodies can apply |
|
| to the courts for an Order to stop a business carrying |
|
|out activities which breach certain legislation.
|
|
| Failure to comply can be found to be contempt of
|
|
| court, leading to a fine or imprisonment.
|
|---------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| GOEM
| Government Office East Midlands. The local voice of |
|
|government departments. It monitors the LSP.
|
|---------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| High pressure selling | Sales tactics that put pressure on consumer to
|
|
| purchase at the time. Can be carried out by
|
|
| salespeople from legitimate companies as well as
|
|
|bogus. |
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Itinerant
| Most bogus property repairers are itinerant -- they |
| trader/trading | travel around the country
and do not have a static |
|
| business base or address. Many live on travellers’ |
|
| sites.
|
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| LACORS
| Local Authority Coordinators of Regulatory Services . |
|
| Provides advice and guidance to support local
|
|
| authority regulatory services -- the services that |
|
| provide public protection. Helps coordinate
|
|
| enforcement across the country.
|
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| LSP
| Local Strategic Partnership. Nottingham’s is called One |
|
| City Partnership Nottingham. It represents the public, |
|
| private, community and voluntary sectors. Its role is |
|
| to allow partnerships tackling deprivation to become |
|
|more effective by providing a strategic overview and |
|
| provide funding.
|
|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| NDC
| New Deal for Communities. Government granted
|
|
| £55m in 2000 to improve neighbourhoods of Radford |
|
| and Hyson Green -- education, crime, health,
|
|
| regeneration etc. |
|---------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| NORCOTS
| Equivalent of EMCOTS for northern England.
|
|
| Recognised as TS national leader on doorstep crime.
|
|
| Employs Brian Steele and Gerry Dickinson.
|
|---------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| OFT
|Office of Fair Trading. Government department
| |
|responsible for educating and informing consumers, | |
|enforcing legislation regarding competition and
| |
|Enterprise Act.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
Glossary of doorstep crime terms
Nottingham City Council Trading Standards -- November 2004
2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Operation Liberal |Police operation to tackle distraction
burglary | |
|involving a number of police forces in the Midlands. | |
|Based at Derbyshire Police HQ at Ripley. They have a | |
|central database of offenders liked to a mapping
| |
|system. Although their brief is distraction burglary | |
|they will assist with investigations into bogus
| |
|property repairers, and recently led an operation | |
|against one particular team.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|POCA
|Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Allows for the
| |
|investigation and recovery of financial proceeds of | |
|criminal activity.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|PSA agreements |Local PSA agreements are
agreed between authority and | |
|government. Aim is to improve performance in the
| |
|delivery of local services by focusing on targeted | |
|outcomes with government (financial) support.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|QBS
|Quality Builder Scheme. Run by City Council Trading | |
|Standards. And Building Control. Memberts are from a | |
|wide range of building trades, they sign up to a Code | |
|of Practice, have the quality of work inspected and | |
|receive training in consumer rights. More information | |
|from Trading Standards Advice Centre or Trading
| |
|Standards website.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|RIPA
|Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Ensures | |
|investigations are carried out in accordance with | |
|Human Rights Act.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|ROBIN
|Reduction of Burglary in Nottingham – promotional name| |
|for Burglary Reduction Team. This name being phased | |
|out and replaced by Safer Homes.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Rogue trader/trading |Generic term for bogus property repairers or
| |
|salespeople whose purpose is to obtain money by
| |
|deception rather than genuine sale of goods.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|SAFE
|Police initiative to fit target hardening measures | |
|e.g. door chains. Takes referrals from Burglary
| |
|Reduction Team and Police.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Safer Homes |This is the
new name for ROBIN – promotional name for | |
|burglary Reduction Team.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Sale of Goods Act |The law under which consumers have rights
for the | |1979
|goods they buy. Civil law -- redress available through| |
|suing in the county courts
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Solicited visit |Visit from a trader following
invitation by the | |
|consumer. Invitation can be by phone call responding | |
|to an advert or personal request to a trader working | |
|in the area. Consumers do not have cancellation rights| |
|unless paying by credit.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Supply of Goods |The law under which consumers
have rights for the | |and Services Act 1982|services
they buy, and for the goods provided as part | |
|of that service. Civillaw -- redress available through| |
|suing in the county courts.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Target hardening |Making premises less easy or
attractive to burgle | |
|e.g. by fitting door chains, alarms and security
| |
|lights, using smartwater etc
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|TSI
|Trading Standards Institute. The professional body of | |
|Trading Standards Officers. Active in training staff, | |
|educating the public, organising campaigns etc,
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
|Unsolicited visits |Contact from a trader without being expressly
invited.| |or phone calls |If an unsolicited
phone call leads to a visit by a | |
|salesperson, the visit is still classed as
| |
|unsolicited.
|
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
Glossary of doorstep crime terms
Nottingham City council Trading Standards -- November 2004
3