What is Theft?

Theft is stealing and wrongfully taking and carrying away the personal possession or property of another person. This usually involves the person finding out afterwards or later that something of theirs has been stolen, and so it doesn’t affect the safety of that person, like a robbery does.

Advice to minimise theft

Since there are no absolute answers in life and each situation you come across can be different. The important thing is that you always try to practice safe options and assess the risks with anything you do. This will help reduce the likelihood of something bad happening or someone stealing from you.

  • Remember to plan ahead
  • Trust your instincts
  • Be aware of your surroundings
  • Make a safety plan in case things go wrong
  • Always let people know where you are
  • There is always someone you can turn to for help

Here are some handy hints from the police as to what you can do to minimise the risk of theft:

  • Don’t carry expensive items with you unless you have to.
  • If you have to leave your things somewhere, always make sure that no one can get to them while you are away, or that someone else will look after them.
  • Use marker pens, UV pens and other forms of anti theft devises to mark your possessions. You can get more information about these from the Police.

Reporting crime

Since the reporting of a theft is not an emergency and the Police do not need to know about it straight away, it is best to phone the Police on their non emergency number, 0845 6070999. This means that you won’t be clogging up their emergency number, 999.

The Police will always discuss any fears or worries you have and talk to you about what the best course of action will be. At the very least, they will know it has happened and will be able to give you a crime number which you can use with the insurance, if you have any, and will give you advice about how to minimise the risk of theft and help keep you safe.

It is always important you report any crime. This does not have to be directly to the Police since there are many ways you can report crime confidentially and anonymously. For more information about the different ways you can report crime and get help and support see the ‘What to do about crime’ page or the ‘Reporting Crime’ game on this website.

Links

www.caddie.gov.uk/

CADDIE stands for Crime and Disorder Data Information Exchange and is a website that brings together crime and disorder data from different partnership agencies including the police, fire service and ambulance service. An interactive mapping wizard allows you to view crime in Brighton & Hove by ward area, and a postcode lookup facility will show you how many incidents have been recorded within 1km of your home postcode in the last month.

www.sussex.police.uk/

Website for Sussex Police which gives you information about the Police, what they are doing in Brighton & Hove and across Sussex, how to report crime and make complaints.

www.safeinthecity.net/

Brighton & Hove's Community Safety Team website, which tells you about the crime and disorder priorities set by the council and police in the city. This gives you information about what the council and police are planning to do to improve the safety of people in the city.

www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/

The City Council website can also provide more advice and information about crime and disorder in the city and provide links to other services and websites which can help.

www.pmsafetycard.co.uk/

The Personal and Mobile Safety website is dedicated to giving security and safety advice to protect people when out and about, provide security for mobile phones and give advice about keeping safe.
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