Conservation Bulletin 70 | PDF - English Heritage

Enforcement and Deterrence
Preventing heritage crime depends on understanding the risks – and on
knowing how to take firm enforcement action when it does occur.
There are many ways in which historic buildings
and monuments can be protected against criminal
damage. However, effective deterrence depends
on understanding the particular kinds of risks to
which each individual property is exposed.
As Mike Harlow and Mark Harrison (pp 16–17),
David James (pp 17–18) and Louise Grove show
(pp 18–20) heritage crimes can take many different
forms. While some are targeted at the value of
the asset itself, others may be the incidental consequence
of other illicit activities. By monitoring the
past incidence of crime it becomes easier to predict
its future occurrence, and thus in turn to take
appropriate steps to discourage it from happening
again.
At the level of an individual property those
defensive measures can themselves take a variety of
forms, depending on the size and location of the
site and the kinds of attack to which it likely to be
most vulnerable. As Jon Livesey (pp 20–2) argues,
the trick is to provide maximum deterrence with
the minimum of impact on the all-important
historic character of the place.
And if site security fails to do the job, the next
line of defence is swift and investigation and
enforcement action (Fisher pp 22–3) – a potentially
powerful deterrent to criminals thinking of trying
their luck elsewhere.
Focusing effort on places most at risk
Mike Harlow
Governance and Legal Director, English Heritage
Mark Harrison
National Policing and Crime Advisor, English Heritage
If you are reading this you are surely bothered
about our heritage.You are also, we hope, bothered
about how to protect it against crime. But you
may be wondering whether there is anything you
personally can do about it; and, if so, what to do
and where to start.
STEP 1: find your local heritage assets.This is easy.
The National Heritage List for England (list.english-heritage.org.uk/mapsearch.aspx)
will show
listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered
parks gardens and battlefields and World Heritage
Sites on a map of your area.Your local authority
website will show the conservation areas. The
local historic environment record will show the
undesignated, which is not to be forgotten. Some
undesignated archaeological sites are easily as
important as our scheduled monuments.
But that’s a lot of stuff to worry about. So,
STEP 2: narrow your focus. Think about the
following factors:
• Heritage significance How important is the
building or place?
• Sensitivity How sensitive is it to potential
criminal damage?
• Vulnerability How well is it currently being
protected?
• Threat What is the crime threat locally at
present?
In other words, if you have a Grade I building with
lead on the roof, gold ornaments and a timber
frame, whose security has not been professionally
reviewed and which is left open all day unattended
in a part of town where the crime maps show busy
police officers, then that’s your first concern.Those
private houses in good order with large dogs at
the five-bar gate can probably be left alone.
STEP 3: Do something. Preventative measures
are an obvious good thing and many do not require
physical alteration. But don’t just think about the
heritage asset itself. Turn the argument round. If
the asset is important to the community for its
current use and enjoyment or for its potential
in characterful and sustainable regeneration, then
The roof of the Grade II*
Church of St Bartholomew
at Sproxton in Leicestershire
after an attack by metal
thieves.
© Rupert Allen
16 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 70: Summer 2013