There are a number of instances where "victims", or for the purposes of this initiative, “businesses” do not report incidents of crime.  In part, this is sometimes due to either apathy, or lack of faith in police, however, there are several instances where this is not the case.

What is becoming apparent is that businesses quite often only report crime where there is a requirement by the insurer to provide a crime reference number.

Whilst there will always be instances where Police attendance is not required, or where the Police may be unable to attend, it is still worthwhile reporting any incidents, or attempted and unsuccessful incidents as this information can be used for Crime Pattern Analysis.

If the Police are aware of particular trends, businesses can be warned in advance of any potential problems allowing them to take preventative action and warn employees or customers. 

Additionally, it is vital that information on incidents is reported at the very earliest opportunity.  We are unable to take action and warn others if the information is not passed to us until several days later.  The sooner we have information, the sooner we can act and inform others at risk.

We are keen to assist businesses in taking a pro-active stance against crime rather than a reactive stance.  To this end, as part of the new Derbyshire Business Against Crime initiative, we would like to set up an ‘e-alert’ system.  

The purpose of this would be used to pass on information to those parties who have opted to receive information from Derbyshire Police.  As and when relevant information is received, ie a particular trend of crime in a certain area, this information will be sent out to your nominated representative via email.

So why is crime not reported?

Below is a list that the BCC Crime Survey identified as the main reasons for not reporting crime to the Police:

• No confidence in police response
  It is not physically possible for the Police to attend every incident.  Additionally, it is not always beneficial for an officer to attend as professional thieves are highly unlikely to have left any sort of evidence.
  
• Fear of reprisal
  Although this to proprietors is a very real fear, in actual fact this is rare.  If there is information on a suspect, they are unlikely to risk further offences on the same injured party as it may further corroborate their initial involvement.
  
• No loss/damage
  This does happen. It may have been an unsuccessful attempt, or the perpatrators were disturbed before they were able to carry out their intended actions.  Even if you suffer no loss or damage it is still beneficial to report any incidents so that they can be recorded and used for Crime Pattern Analysis.
  
• Unable to contact police
  At peak times, this happens occasionally.  Already since January this year, over 52,000 crimes have been reported - the Police get very busy too.  Make a note of your local police stations number as well as the central number.  If you report a crime or an attempted crime, you are not obliged to make a claim on insurance.
  
• Matter dealt with internally
  We are pleased to hear that your organisation has been able to deal with the matter effectively.  But again, this information is useful to the Police and could be used to warn other businesses about particular trends and problems.