The roll-out of an initiative to help tackle robberies at cash machines and a renewed pledge to work with the mobile phone operators to meet their target of blocking stolen phones were announced yesterday by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker.
Joint guidance will be issued today on cash machine ‘privacy spaces’. These are an inexpensive, practical, and highly effective method of reducing thefts from people as they withdraw money at ATMs. Consisting of a marked out box on the pavement around bank machines, the spaces are designed to give people privacy as they use the machines.
Pilots in Manchester and the West Midlands have shown these Privacy Spaces alongside a range of other measures can really help to cut robbery.
As well as adding to feelings of personal safety they are useful in alerting people to potential robbers who can easily be spotted encroaching the space. A 2003 pilot by Greater Manchester Police found that, when implemented with a series of other measures, offences within 150 metres of cash machines with Privacy Spaces reduced by 66% compared to a reduction of 34% within 150 metres of those without.
Guidance on the design and installation on the boxes has been developed by the Home Office, the Local Government Association and APACS, the UK payments association. APACS have also agreed to help fund the cost of creating these “Privacy Spaces”.
The Local Government Association is recommending that those on community sentences, under supervision of the Youth Offending Team or on Probation undertake the physical labour of painting ‘privacy spaces’.
Vernon Coaker highlighted these ‘privacy spaces’ as a good example of the Government working with industry to tackle robbery during a speech to the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit in Loughborough. He reminded the audience that the mobile phone industry have pledged to block 80% of stolen phones within 24 hours on their network and within 48 hours across all networks in the UK
Mr Coaker said:
“Simple common sense measures such as these can go a long way to cutting crime and making people feel safer about their streets. There are many reasons why people should feel safer now than they once did: crime and violent crime have fallen by over a third in the last nine years and the risk of being a victim is at a historic low.
“Robberies have fallen too: there are 21,000 fewer robberies now than in 2001. Through tough legislation, support for community groups and funding for historically high numbers of police we have achieved a great deal.
“But we want to go further. Working with the banks and the mobile phone companies can bring further reductions in robberies. Pilots have shown that ‘Privacy Spaces’ can reduce crime at bank machines and we’re working with industry to roll these out.
“And we’re working closely with the mobile phone industry too. They have pledged to block 80% of stolen phones within 24 hours on their network and within 48 hours across all networks in the UK– a challenging target. Blocking phones sends a clear message to would-be thieves – that there’s no point stealing them. We’re determined to tackle robbery and build on our success to date by working together.”
Councillor Hazel Harding, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Safer Communities Board, said:
“Councils are committed to helping people get safely through their day, and schemes such as ‘Privacy Spaces’ show that local authorities are not afraid of boxing clever in order to cut street crime.
“Experiences in Manchester and other pilot areas show just how effective simple measures such as yellow ‘Privacy Spaces’ can be, and the Local Government Association is encouraging all councils to consider introducing such schemes into their area. “
Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, said
“A marked out zone around a cash machine may not seem like much of a deterrent, but the evidence points to a reduction in fraud coupled with a greater sense of security for cash machine users. The vast majority of cash machine withdrawals take place crime free and the privacy space initiative will help to reduce this type of crime even further.”