Burglary summit launched
- 00:01:47
- ITN
Burglary summit launched
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is hosting a summit to address fears of a "credit crunch crime wave" after burglaries were up 4 per cent in the last set of crime figures. Ms Smith will host police, retailers, insurers and charities for elderly people at the meeting in central London. She will also launch a £1.6 million crime prevention campaign and a new web-based test for people to check their home security. The three-minute test will rate your home on the basis of the information you provide and suggest new ways to make your home safer. The Home Secretary has pledged to stay on the "front foot" in tackling crime, and said burglary has fallen 55 per cent since 1997. Figures for July to September last year showed there were 69,000 break-ins at homes in England and Wales, the first rise in seven years. Burglaries of commercial premises were also up. Last year Ms Smith warned Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a leaked memo of a likely increase in "acquisitive" crimes including burglary as a result of the economic downturn.
ITN | February 4, 2009
