In 2002 Age Concern undertook a survey of older people’s views and experiences of street crime. They interviewed 4000 people from all over the country, and produced some clear results.

• Most older people enjoy living in their neighbourhoods and trust most or many people where they live, but 25% (a quarter) of older people feel that street crime is a big or very big problem in their areas.

• Apart from Neighbourhood Watch and Crimestoppers, there is little awareness of other forms of crime prevention work done by the police or local councils.

• Older people are unlikely to have been consulted about crime prevention in their area

• 2% of older people have been victims of street crime, and 18% have been subjected to anti-social behaviour

• Older people are highly likely to report incidents of street crime and less likely to report anti-social behaviour to the police. Even though most reports do not result in successful prosecutions, the willingness to report in the future is high

• A third of older people felt that fear of crime had affected their quality of life and made them feel lonely and isolated. This was more marked with increasing age. 72% agreed with the statement that you are more likely to become a victim of street crime as you get older.

• Many older people said the anti-social behaviour of young people was highly relevant in making them feel unsafe on the streets.


These findings may be contrasted with those from another study, conducted for the Home Office and based on data from the British Crime Survey (published as ‘Crime, Policing and Justice: the Experience of Older People’
by Natalia Chivite-Matthews and Penelope Maggs, 2002).

This found that:
• During the 1990s the share of crime experienced by older people remained more or less the same (about 14% of the total)

• Older people’s risk of suffering from a household or a personal crime is much lower than for other age groups

• Older people are more likely to report violent incidents of crime and much less likely to be repeatedly victimised than younger people

• Older people have similar levels of worry for most crime types to those of other age groups, despite their lower levels of victimisation

• Older women are more likely than older men to worry about fear of household or personal crime

• Older people who perceive their health to be bad or very bad worry more about crime than those who perceive their health to be fair to very good

• Older people are more likely to use security devices at home than younger people

• Older people tend to have a better opinion about most criminal justice system agencies than young people aged 30 – 59.

On first reading this would appear to present a very different picture to that painted by Age Concern. Older people are no more at risk from crime than anybody else. They just worry about it more.

But it all depends on where you are coming from. 14% of total crime being done to older people may not sound very much. In fact this represents over 2 million crimes every year being imposed on the oldest and often the most vulnerable members of society. It is also highly likely that the physical and psychological damage caused by these crimes is out of all proportion to their number.

There is no doubt that there is a very substantial problem here and one which, in all likelihood, is not being adequately addressed. We need much more information about it, and our older people’s Bristol crime survey, circulated with this newsletter, is our attempt to provide some of it.



What Older People Want
(from Age Concern Survey, 2002)

• More visible street policing

• Better street lighting

• More effective punishment

• Improved access to crime reporting facilities (eg more police stations open at night)

• Information on local crime prevention initiatives

• Closed circuit TV in public areas

• Safer public transport

• Helping younger people understand the needs of older people


Age Concern’s Recommendations
(from the 2002 survey)

• The needs of older people should be specifically considered and provided for in any measures by police or other agencies to reduce crime

• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) should encourage involvement by older people through consultation

• Older people should be viewed as a valuable resource and encouraged to participate in schemes such as Neighbourhood Watch and Crimestoppers

• CDRPs should keep older people informed of crime prevention schemes

• Older people’s organisations should liaise with the media to promote good practice and good news in tackling crime, and to discuss the likely impact of biased and insensitive reporting

• The police and crime prevention agencies should work closely with older people’s organisations to develop effective referral and outreach support services for older victims of crime, including befriending services

• Crime prevention agencies should ensure adequate access to crime reporting facilities

• The police should adopt good practice approaches for dealing with older people as recommended in the Association of Chief Police Officers’ guidance on ‘Providing a quality service to older people’.

• An increase in the visible presence of law enforcement agencies on the streets to allay fears of older people

• better street lighting

• target older people with information and advice about personal safety and security

• CDRPs should tackle intergenerational problems between young and older people