Criminal damage is where any person without lawful excuse intentionally or recklessly destroys or damages any property belonging to another (Criminal Damage Act 1971 Section 1).
It does not include accidental damage or damage that can be
rectified, cleaned off or removed at no cost, such as letting down car
tyres.
Overall, crime levels have been generally falling nationally since
2002-03, but the level of criminal damage has remained largely
unchanged.
More information on
the national picture
We have been involved in a number of projects aimed at
reducing criminal damage across the region. These include:
-
EnCams national programme
Nine projects in the North East were included in a national support
programme. The aim was to help raise the profile of the problem
locally, compile an action plan to tackle it, and provide a follow up
session to evaluate results.
-
North East Criminal Damage project
This was developed for partnerships not involved with the EnCams
programme. It complemented the EnCams programme by helping partnerships
meet their criminal damage reduction targets. It did this by
identifying and sharing innovative or positive practice and working
closely with partnerships that needed assistance.
-
A master class event, to share information on that project
and other local projects with partnerships.
For more information on criminal damage in your area go to
Cleveland,
Durham and
Northumbria police web
sites.
