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Arson Task Force
In the past year, 1725 fires attended by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service were started deliberately. This figure represents 52% of all fires attended by the Service and remains the single largest cause of major fires in the UK. Arson is a serious issue and can result in injury, damage to property and even loss of life.
The Arson Task Force is based within the Fire and Rescue Service and comprises a dedicated Fire Officer and Police Officer. The team has an overall remit to prevent and reduce arson in the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service area year on year. We aim to:
- Identify contributing factors to arson
- Identify arson trends
- Implement projects to reduce arson
- Evaluate arson projects
These aims are achieved by using a problem solving strategy that locates three main elements: offender, target and motive. We are consequently involved in many activities working with different organisations to identify and prosecute persistent arsonists, remove and secure potential arson targets and educate and divert existing and potential arsonists.
Examples of some of our projects include the CARE Team (Community Arson Reduction and Education), FireBall, FireBeat, Embedded Firefighters, FireSkills and Environmental Action Days. We also work closely with Crimestoppers and FireCare, our programme for juvenile firesetters.
The Arson Task Force aims to help communities help themselves; reducing the number of deliberate fires will contribute to:
- Making your area a safer and better place to live
- Working with the community to tackle instances of anti-social behaviour
- Engaging with partner agencies to make vulnerable persons within the community to feel safer in their own homes
- Reducing fire deaths, injuries and financial losses
- Sustaining the environment
- Reducing the demands on Fire and Rescue Service and Police resources
We do deliver projects that you may benefit from directly, but in general everyone can benefit from the Arson Task Force by following its advice, helping them in offender inquiries and passing the message on. If you do require further advice, contact DC Del Gillespie on 0116 2872241 or email info@lfrs.org. For further contact details or to report an arson risk, click here
