Crime costs £1,540 for every borough household (From Times Series)

Crime costs £1,540 for every borough household

4:15pm Thursday 2nd June 2005 in News By Lawrence Marzouk

Rising levels of violence have sent the cost of crime soaring to more than £1,500 for each household in Barnet.

Research by Middlesex University using the most recent crime statistics shows that crime costs Barnet households £1,540 every year more than the total spent on buying clothes and fresh fruit and vegetables.

The cost has risen by 40 per cent in the borough over the last four years, growing from £142 million in 2001 to £195 million this year, representing one of the highest rises in London. It is largely a result of a 58 per cent rise in violent crime since 2001, which now accounts for more than two- thirds of the total cost of crime in terms of lost property and time, extra security devices, emotional distress as well as the cost to the taxpayer of the criminal justice system.

The total number of offences in Barnet overtook inner London boroughs like Hackney last year, while Barnet police continued to make do with up to 200 fewer officers.

The report, commissioned by Barnet Council, which has helped form Barnet's crime strategy for the next three years, also reveals that the cost of crime in the capital is being increasingly borne by outer London boroughs like Barnet.

Police are unable to say what factors have contributed to the rising costs, but a spokeswoman said that a change in the way forces record violent crime is partly to blame, and an increase in alcohol-related violence is also thought to be a factor.

"Since 2004 the Home Office stated that any assault that leaves a mark on the victim any mark is now classified as an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, whereas before, an assault that only left a slight reddening, for example, would have been classed as a common assault and not counted in the figures," the spokeswoman said.

Police hope to cut violent crime by five per cent over the next year by targeting prolific offenders.

Middlesex's research also reveals that Barnet's most deprived areas are saddled with the highest cost of crime. Deprived wards like West Hendon, Colindale, Burnt Oak and Childs Hill top the overall crime and violent crime league.

The cost of crime figures are based on a Home Office study, which calculated how much is spent per crime on personal security, the administrative cost of insurance companies, emotional distress, lost property, a loss in the person's productivity, and running the criminal justice system, victim services and health services. But the figure did not include the cost of general policing, insurance premiums or claims, or a fall in a victim's quality of life.