MPA Management Information Report

Report: 5
Date: 31 July 2009
By: Chief Executive

Summary

This report summarises MPA data analysis into the crimes committed against and by people over the age of 50, and is intended to provide background information to support discussion at the sub-committee. It provides trend analysis on crime, the MPS Public Attitude Survey, the MPS User Satisfaction Survey and some external research findings.

A. Recommendation

That Members note the report

B. Supporting information

This paper presents key points from desktop research and analysis into older people and crime.

Older people as victims of crime

1. The number of older [1] victims of crime remained steady between 2007/08 and 2008/09, at around 121,000 per year; this represents around 6% of the total 1.94million London residents of that age. There are variations within that age group: the number of 60+ and 70+ victims increased last year (though only slightly – 60-69 year old victims up 0.9%, 70+ year old victims up 1%).

2. Just under two-thirds (60%) of victims of crime were white European, with a further 10% Asian, and 8% African-Caribbean. Other ethnicities make up a further 5% of the total, and 17% were unrecorded at the time of the offence.

3. An additional five older people were murdered in 2008/09 compared with the previous year, an increase from 22 to 27. This does not represent a significant increase; the number of murders in 2006/07 was 25.

4. In 2008/09, 77 older people were victims of rape, up from 52 the previous year, though again in 2006/07 the total was closer to the higher amount (72) indicating a non-significant trend.

5. According to the British Crime Survey, [2] older people are more likely than other age groups to be worried about burglary; this is borne out to an extent by the data showing the number of burglary victims has gone up from 18,419 to 19,407 (+5%).

Older people accused of crime

6. In total, 4,774 older people were accused of crimes in 2008/09, with only 234 of those over 70. This is in line with previous years, the total accused in 2007/08 being only 18 higher (4,792).

Findings from the MPS Public Attitudes Survey

7. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Public Attitudes Survey (PAS) measures Londoners’ perceptions of policing and experiences of crime and has taken place since 1983. The PAS surveys 20,480 people annually, equating to 640 interviews per borough, with interviewing taking place continually throughout the year. The PAS adopts a probability sampling method to ensure the sample of respondents is representative of the population of London and at borough level.

8. The analysis below presents a comparison of headline survey results for the 2008/09 financial year for victims aged 16 to 54 years and over 55 years. To provide a meaningful sample size, the MPS recommended that for the purposes of this analysis, data was presented for these two age groups.

Notable points were:

• Respondents aged over 55 years were less likely to agree that the police and local council were dealing with anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in the area compared to those aged under 55 years (56% vs. 61%).
• Older respondents were also slightly less likely to state that the police provided a visible patrolling presence ‘well to some extent’ compared to those under 55 years (58% vs. 66%).
• However, older respondents were more likely to agree that the police would treat you with respect if they had contact with them for any reason compared to respondents under 55 years (82% vs. 76%).

Source: MPS Strategic Research and Analysis Unit

Findings from the MPS User Satisfaction Survey

9. The MPS User Satisfaction Survey (USS) measures victim’s satisfaction with the service they have received from the police. The USS is a telephone survey of around 18,000 victims a year (approximately 550 per borough).

10. Victims aged over 55 years were generally more satisfied with all aspects of service they received from the police compared to those aged 16 to 54 years.

This was particularly notable for:

• overall satisfaction (84% of those over 55 years compared to 75% in the younger age group)
• satisfaction with police actions (82% vs. 71%)
• satisfaction with police follow up (70% vs. 62%)
• satisfaction with response time (89% vs. 81%)
• feeling reassured (83% vs. 75%).

11. The only area where satisfaction of older people fell slightly below that of younger respondents was in satisfaction with the police explaining what is happening and why (84% of those aged over 55 years stated they were satisfied, compared with 85% of respondents aged 16 to 54 years).

12. It is worthy to note that 60% of respondents aged over 55 years stated that they had a positive opinion of the police prior to the victimisation, compared to just 47% of those aged 16 to 54 years.

Source: MPS Strategic Research and Analysis Unit

Research

13. There is limited research into older people and crime. Research available is quite dated.

• A 2002 Home Office study found that:
  • Older people’s risk of suffering from a household or personal crime is much lower than for other age groups. Older people are more likely to report violent incidents of crime and much less likely to be repeatedly victimised by other age groups.
  • Older people have similar levels of worry for most crime types compared to other age groups, despite their lower levels of victimisation.
  • Older women are more likely to worry than older men about fear of household or personal crime. Those that perceive their health to be bad are more likely to worry about crime than those who perceive their health to be good, which may explain why older people have disproportionate levels of fear as they tend to suffer worse health than other age groups. A Home Office study (2003) found that elderly victims of burglary decline in health faster than non-victims of a similar age. Two years after the burglary, victims are more likely to have died or be in residential care than their non-burgled counterparts (Donaldson, 2003).
  • Older people tend to have a better opinion of most criminal justice system (CJS) agencies than those aged 30 to 59 years. However, those over 60 years are less likely to think that witnesses are very/fairly well treated by the police but more likely to think that witnesses are very/fairly well treated by the courts than other age groups. They are also more likely to think that court sentences are much too lenient.
• A survey of fear of street crime amongst older people by Age Concern (2003) found that most older people (93%) enjoyed living in their neighbourhoods and three quarters trust most or many people where they live – however a quarter of respondents felt that street crime was a big or very big problem in their area. Older people were highly likely to report incidents of street crime but less likely to report anti-social behaviour (ASB) to the police. Despite most reports not resulting in successful prosecutions, the willingness to report in the future remained high. A third of people who responded to the survey felt that fear of crime had affected their quality of life and made them feel lonely and isolated. This seemed to be more marked with increasing age. Almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents agreed with the statement that you are more likely to become a victim of street crime as you get older. An overwhelming number of respondents felt that more visible street policing would help in allaying their fears. They also felt that the following measures would improve older people’s confidence while out of their home:
  • Better street lighting
  • More effective punishment for ASB and street crime
  • Improved access to crime reporting facilities (e.g. more police stations open at night)
  • Information on local crime prevention initiatives
  • CCTV in public areas
  • Safer public transport
  • Helping young people to better understand the needs of older people
• Action on Elder Abuse (2004) analysed calls made to the Elder Abuse Response Action Helpline. Findings included:
  • Women were three times more likely to call the helpline than men
  • More men than women were identified as abusers of older people. The majority of male abusers were family members and, while this was true for female abusers also, a significant proportion of females were identified as paid staff.
  • The majority (67%) of victims of elder abuse were identified as female, with males making up 22% of victims. A smaller proportion (11%) of victims were both men and women facing abuse at the same time.
  • More than three-quarters (78%) of abuse was perpetrated against people aged over 70 years with a further 16% against people over 90 years. The period of most vulnerability to elder abuse appeared to be between 80 and 89 years.
  • Most abuse (64%) occurs within people’s homes with a further 23% committed in care homes.
• Data presented to the MPA in June 2008 stated that 21% of MPS neighbourhood panel members were over 61 years old. The MPS are currently updating this work and more recent figures will be available soon.

References

Action on Elder Abuse (2004) Hidden voices: older people’s experience of abuse London: Action on Elder Abuse/Help the Aged

Age Concern (2003) Survey of fear of street crime amongst older people London: Age Concern

Chivite-Matthews, N. and Maggs, P. (2002) Crime, policing and justice: the experience of older people Statistical Bulleting 08/02 London: Home Office

Donaldson, R. (2003) Experiences of older burglary victims Findings 198 London: Home Office

Contact details

Report author(s): Melissa Pepper and James Bennett, Planning and Performance Unit

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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