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Environmental Crime

Environmental crime has a huge impact on communities and on how happy and safe people feel in them. It can ruin public spaces and is expensive to clean up.

In the most recent British Crime Survey, respondents named vandalism and property damage as the most serious anti-social behaviour issues in their area.

Environmental crime can include:

• fly-tipping - dumping household or commercial rubbish in private or communal areas
• littering - deliberately dropping litter on the streets
• graffiti - spray painting or otherwise marking private property or communal areas like the sides of bus-shelters and houses
• vandalism - damaging private property or communal facilities like telephone boxes or playgrounds.

Environmental improvement projects usually focus on improving local facilities and public spaces to make them cleaner, greener, safer and more accessible to all. 

They often adopt a situational approach to reducing crime i.e. improving the area to make crime harder to commit. For example: improving lighting and visibility, installing CCTV, improving fencing and using anti-climb paint or shrubs to discourage people from climbing over them.

However environmental projects can also utilise a social approach to crime reduction by bringing different types of people together to work on the common goal of improving the area which fosters 'community spirit'. By involving different user groups, public spaces can become more welcoming; barriers between groups can be broken down and the fear of crime reduced.

CSAS groups working on environmental projects include: friends of parks groups, residents associations, area action groups, tenants management organisations, disability and women's groups.

Links

• Home Office
  What the government are doing about environmental crime
  www.homeoffice.gov.uk/
  
  
• Environment Agency
  Information on environmental crime from the national Environment Agency
  www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
  
  
• Metropolitan Police Service - Safer Neighbourhoods
  Information on Community Payback, a scheme designed to address the impact of environmental crime
  www.met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods/
  
  
• Respect
  Pages from the governments Respect project dealing with environmental crime
  www.respect.gov.uk/
  
  
• Capital Clean Up
  The Capital Clean Up Campaign is a 100 day campaign to get people involved in making improvements to their local environment. It cuts right across the cleaner, safer, greener agenda to clean up London and everyone can do their bit to take part.
  www.capitalstandards.com/cleanup/
  
  
•  RHS Neighbourhood Awards
  This site is for small, resident-led groups who are starting up in "cleaning and greening up" their local area. It tells you how to get started, useful contacts for support as well as funding oportunuities.
  www.rhs.org.uk/
  
  
• Making Safer Places
  The Making Safer Places project is a three year pilot project run by the Women's Design Service, aiming to allow women to feel safe to go about their everyday lives without fear, in urban environments. The project was delivered in the cities of Manchester, Bristol and London.
  www.wds.org.uk/

Downloads

• Tackling Environmental Anti-Social Behaviour
  Factsheet produced by the Anti-social Behaviour Unit outlining some of the powers available to deal with common types of environmental crime
  www.respect.gov.uk/