Crime and the Business Community: Experiences of Businesses in Cornwall, England

Abstract

Crime audits carried out in Cornwall in 2001 provided the opportunity to assess the extent and distribution of business crime in this rural county of England. This paper describes crimes cited by 621 respondents to a postal questionnaire sent to a sample of businesses in the area. It confirms the extent of crime against businesses, albeit vehicle-related crimes and aggressive incidents were less common than crimes against individual households. However, some businesses were more at risk than others. The nature of the business and its location were particularly important in distinguishing different levels of risk, with the patterns varying according to the nature of the crime. Routine activity theory appeared a useful tool in explaining these patterns. In particular, businesses which were located in safer environments or structured in ways that reduced the likelihood of their experiencing different types of crime had lower levels of risk. Thus businesses that were run from home or were located in villages were at low risk, while businesses based in town centres, being more accessible to offenders, were at high risk. Isolated businesses (which were thus not open to informal policing) also experienced crimes like burglary and robbery. Manufacturing industries, where contact with the public was less evident, were at low risk across a range of offences. In contrast, retail companies, where contact with the public was greatest, experienced more crime, and this applied to both property crime and aggressive incidents. Aggression was also higher in businesses specialising in catering/leisure and visitor accommodation, where contact with the public was also extensive.