What Are the Different Types of Crime?

Written by regionadmin

21st April 2022

What is Meant by Crime?

There are many different types of crime that take place in the UK, but do you know what they are? Crime is any deliberate act that causes physical or psychological harm. Most people will experience some sort of crime within their lives regardless of their background, whether it’s a small crime such as underage drinking or a larger crime such as robbery. However, not all crimes result in prosecution and can be labelled as a civil offence. Either way, there are many services that can help eliminate these crimes whether on a small or large basis.

This article provides you key information on a range of crimes and relevant prosecution so that you can identify what security services would suit you best.

 

What is Trespassing?

Trespassing is the act of entering private land without the owner’s permission. This still applies even if you did previously have permission as it has since been withdrawn. Unless there is a clear understanding that the land is open to public, all land is considered private as it belongs to someone. For example, if a group of people were to protest in a public park after visiting hours it will be considered trespassing.

Is Trespassing a Crime in the UK?

Although trespassing is an illegal act, it is often considered to be more of a civil issue than a criminal offence. As police officers may not have the power to remove a trespasser, security guards are a great way to reduce crime and ensure that private land is secure and monitored. However, in some cases legal action can be taken if the trespasser is intending to stay on private property for a long period of time. This offence can result in imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

What is Knife Crime?

Knife crime refers to any acts of crime which involves a knife. Examples of this include carrying a knife, threatening someone with a knife, or using a knife as a weapon. To eliminate this, the action of carrying a knife alone can result in a maximum penalty of 4 years in prison as well as an unlimited fine. Anti-social behaviour can be prevented by student accommodation security and event security when in a public place.

What is Property Crime?

Property crime refers to incidents where individuals have been deprived of their property because of an illegal action. This includes burglary, theft, shoplifting, larceny and vandalism. Property crime also takes place at vacant properties and security guards can offer protection for these according to the needs of the customer. Property crimes can have a huge impact on mental wellbeing for the victim and in many cases, criminals will target vulnerable groups such as the elderly.

different types of crimes

What is Organised Crime?

Organised crimes are crimes that are pre-planned and usually conducted by a group of people on a frequent basis. This can include armed robbery, drug trafficking, money laundering, and other financial crimes. The National Audit Office have released statistics revealing that there are more than 4,500 identified UK organised crime groups operating and often performing in unpredictable ways. These cases are usually the hardest to solve due to the planning involved and lack of predictability about where they will commit crime next.

What is Arson Crime?

Arson crime is any criminal damage caused by maliciously setting property on fire. This can include damage to land, buildings, cars, boats, and so on. This crime can take place for several reasons such as for revenge, insurance money, posing a threat, concealing a crime, and intimidating others. Insurance fraud is a common reason for people to commit arson as they will destroy their own property to collect money from their insurance policy.

Is Arson a Crime in the UK?

Arson is a serious offence as damaging property can endanger the life of another. Prison sentences for arson are dependent on the category of culpability of harm. Culpability is ranked from A to C with A meaning a high degree of planning took place and C meaning it took little to no planning. Harm is ranked from 1 to 3 with 1 meaning there was serious physical harm to the victim and 3 meaning very minimal or no physical harm to the victim. Most sentences will be somewhere up to 8 years, but the maximum sentence for arson is life imprisonment.

What is Hate Crime?

Hate Crime is an incident where a victim faces prejudice for their race, disability, religion, or sexual orientation. This can include smaller crimes such as verbal abuse or even larger crimes such as damaged property. The three main types of hate crime are categorised as physical, verbal, and incitement to hatred. These can take place both in person and through online platforms. Police can only prosecute if laws have been broken, but it is still important to make sure this is reported to enable a better police or security response within the area.

what are the different types of crimes

What is Financial Crime?

Financial Crime is any offence that relates to the misuse of financial services for financial gain. The main types of this crime includes fraud, money laundering, bribery, market abuse, and cyber-crime. The National Crime Agency recorded 3.4 million incidents of fraud throughout England and Wales in just 2016-2017 alone. Financial crimes are usually well organised and are committed by organised groups making it very difficult to prosecute.

What is Corporate Crime?

Corporate Crime refers to crimes committed by a corporation or by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation. These types of crimes usually involve acts of fraud or tax evasion and have faced little to no prosecution historically. However, in recent years we have seen companies being held accountable for their crimes. An example of this includes Volkswagen facing huge fines for using software practices to cheat on emission tests for almost 600,000 cars within the US.

What is Cyber Crime?

Cyber Crime is when unauthorised access to computers or networks takes place. This is usually referred to as hacking and is continuing to grow both in scale and complexity which can have a huge impact on individuals and businesses. This crime is usually committed for financial gain, stealing important information, or to simply disrupt others. Prevention of cyber crime includes strong passwords and installing security software’s that can block any potential threats.

What Are the Most Common Types of Crime?

The main crime types within England and Wales include fraud, theft, violence, computer misuse, and vehicle offences. This data is based on police reported crime throughout 2021, however, crime is a broad term and these crimes will have been committed on a variety of levels. The data shows that the highest crime rate in 2021 was for fraud with 5,144,000 offences recorded. This is then followed by theft with 2,950,000 offences recorded.

Investing in good security is a great way to minimise your risk of crime and therefore improve quality of life. Services such as Security Guarding, Vacant Property Security, and CCTV Monitoring are a great way to combat the crimes listed within this article.

If you think we missed any types of crimes, please let us know in the comments below and stay up to date with our latest articles by regularly checking our news page.

Is it a crime

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