Operation Never Again
Everyone fears it and unfortunately for some people it is all too real; that sickening bewildered feeling you have when you walk into your home and discover that things are not how you left them and some familiar objects such as the TV, stereo and DVD are missing.
Further investigation of other rooms in the house reveals that the thieves have searched the house for anything of value they can take. No cash had been in the house so other items have been taken instead. You almost wish you had left money lying around so that the irreplaceable items would have been untouched. Perhaps not.
But if you live in Orange you will be introduced to a program called Operation Never Again when you report the theft to the Police. Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glenn Taylor, who is Chair of the Orange Crime Prevention Committee, explained that Operation Never Again is an initiative involving the Canobolas Local Area Police Command, Orange City Council, the Orange Crime Prevention Committee and the business community of Orange.
The Operation aims to encourage people to ‘harden’ their premises as a proactive measure to combat break, enter and steal; stop further victimisation of residential locations that have already experienced break, enter and theft offences; and develop an attitude of ‘cocooning’ where immediate neighbours look out for each other’s property.The project has adopted the motto ‘Making Our Community a Safer Place’.
In the 12 month period to the end of September 2001, when Operation Never Again was first conceived, there were 1,177 break and enter offences on all types of premises in Orange. Of these, 57 per cent (676) offences were on residential premises with 107 (16 per cent) being repeat offences.
The chance of being broken into a second or third time was therefore high and presented a focus for the Project.Operation Never Again used research that showed that once one is victimised there is an increased chance of a repeat offence occurring relatively soon, and high crime rates and hotspots exist substantially because of rates of repeat victimisation.
Obviously the financial cost to the victim, community and policing resources for such crimes is significant, while the emotional cost to the victim is simply unmeasurable.It was felt steps must be taken to reduce repeat victimisation and to encourage people in the provincial City to take a proactive response to home security.
There are three stages within Operation Never Again depending on whether the premises or home have been victimised on one, two or three occasions. The main idea is to ‘harden’ properties and thereby reduce repeat occurrences of break and enter incidents.
At the first break and enter an information package on crime prevention and home security is given to the victim, along with an offer to mark or engrave property. Local businesses, which support the project, also offer a discount on home security equipment.If the premises are broken into a second time the Police Community Safety Officer will carry out a security audit and strongly suggest and facilitate property engraving of the premises.
Window locks will be fitted, a house alarm will be installed free and security will be upgraded at entrances. Police will also watch the premises at regular intervals. The occupant has the opportunity to purchase the alarm system at the completion of three months.Should a third offence occur, the Police Community Safety Officer will again attend the premises, and a monitored alarm and video surveillance system will be installed at no cost. Daily attention by the Police Target Arrest Teams will also occur.
Members of the Crime Prevention Committee, a committee of Council with a range of community members and members of the Orange Police, have visited Orange residents promoting the objectives of Operation Never Again and offer to carry out free security audits of homes and premises.
Television, radio and newspaper campaigns promoting the project have helped raise awareness of the Operation.
An evaluation conducted by the Western Research Institute at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, into Operation Never Again found that break and enter on dwellings in Orange has declined from 676 incidents in 1998 to 386 in 2002, a decrease of 43 per cent over a five year period. Since the inception of Operation Never Again, break and enter has declined by almost a third.
There has been a highly significant decline in the number of ‘first time’ and repeat break and enter crimes in Orange since the program was introduced in 2001. While current levels of break and enter crime in Orange are now equal to the State average, the rate of decline in break and enter crimes in Orange was twice the average for NSW.
The community response to the Operation Never Again program has been extremely positive with participants in the program, the sponsors and the police all rating the program highly. A strong relationship between the community and the Orange Police is also developing, in part due to the proactive role the police are taking in this program.
These remarkable results can only be attributed to the success of Operation Never Again, which is a unique project that has wide recognition in the community. The ongoing challenge for Operation Never Again is to convert community recognition into action.
There still exists a complacency whereby a recent survey of residents showed that while 70 per cent saw the need for home security, over 45 per cent would only take action to upgrade their security if they were broken into!
As a result of Operation Never Again fewer people, in Orange at least, will ever actually experience the nightmare situation of ascertaining what valuables have been stolen when they return home.
