Domestic and Distraction Burglary
A burglary occurs when a person enters or remains unlawfully in a home/building with the intent to commit a crime.
Distraction burglary is any crime where a lie, trick or distraction is used on an occupant to gain or try to gain access to burgle their home.
Burglary is a serious crime and can often have financial and practical repercussions; its emotional and psychological impact longer-term can vary enormously from victim to victim. Our focus as a service is to provide victims with the emotional support and reassurance, helping them recover from the fear of re-victimisation, whilst supporting them with practical and emotional issues.
There may be more than one person living in the affected household, which means the burglary can have multiple victims. The police often only record the head of a household as the victim, this can hide the true number of victims, and younger people are not generally recorded as victims of burglary, yet the impact can be as devastating.
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Going away on holiday?
- Use automatic timer-switches to turn your lights and radios on when it goes dark
- Cancel any newspaper or milk deliveries
- Use the Royal Mail’s ‘keepsafe’ service – they keep your mail for up to 2 months while you’re away. Mail
sitting on your doorstep is a sign that you are away - Trusted neighbours may be able to help you by collecting your post, opening and closing curtains and
they could park their car on your driveway - Avoid discussing holiday plans on public social networking sites – burglars can use any information you post on there to their advantage
Contacting Us
If you report a crime to Staffordshire Police, they will ask you if you are happy for your details to be passed on to the Staffordshire Victim Gateway. Unless you opt out, we will then automatically receive your contact information and a brief overview of your experience and the crime. If you did opt out, can still self-refer at any time.
We will then contact you directly to offer our service. We can provide you with information, emotional and practical support. We can liaise and advocate on your behalf and introduce you to specialist services who can help your recovery.
Our support is free and confidential, regardless of whether you have reported a crime or incident to the police. We are here to support you.
You can also access a range of tools at www.mysupportspace.org.uk to help you cope and move forwards after crime. This is a free, safe, secure and confidential space where you can choose how you want to be supported after crime.
Crime Prevention Information
Additionally, it may also be useful for you to have advice on crime prevention that may help you to protect yourself in the future. You can find lots of useful information on local crime prevention by clicking here:
https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/