What to know if an emergency happens at your church:
If you’ve been the victim of a crime such as vandalism or theft, you must report it to the police. If you discover a crime is in progress, call 999, but don’t attempt to challenge the perpetrators. If the criminals have left the scene, call 101 (the non-emergency number) or fill out a report on-line here. These are the points you need to cover to help the police to act:
- Location: give the postcode of your church.
- Nature of the crime: give brief details of what was stolen (downpipes/flashing/ roof covering/lightning conductor) where was it stolen from, and the damage done to the building.
- Time: when did the theft happen? If you can’t be exact, give a timeframe (i.e. between ‘x’ and ‘y’ o’clock).
- Sightings: were there any witnesses? If so, what did they see and would they be prepared to give statements? Are there CCTV cameras and have you examined the footage?
- Forensics: the thieves might have left useful evidence, so check with the police that you’re not inadvertently tampering with a crime scene.
- Proof: was the lead treated with SmartWater or any other form of forensic marking system that could trace it to your church? This is really important if the police catch the thieves or scrap dealer red-handed.
Heritage Crime
Make sure that you ask the police to class the incident as a heritage crime and to bring it to the attention of the Rural Task Force. Suffolk Police needs this intelligence to monitor threats to historic places, and there are longer sentencing tariffs for heritage crimes in the event of a conviction.
Insurance
If you think you’ll need to make an insurance claim, or are concerned that someone else might, you should also report the incident to your insurer straight away.
Making repairs
If the fabric of your church has been damaged and you need to carry out urgent work to make it safe (e.g. dismantling something that is at risk of falling down, boarding up a window or door that’s been smashed in, installing a temporary roof covering), please contact the DAC Secretary and request an interim faculty. You should provide photographs of the affected area, along with a brief explanation of what happened and what needs to be done. Interim faculties are processed by e-mail, not through the on-line faculty system, and can usually be granted on the same day. But please note that interim faculties cover only what is needed to eliminate health and safety risks and/or to make the building usable again. For permanent repairs, you’ll need to follow the usual List B/faculty process.
Further resources
Ecclesiastical Insurance’s guidance on metal theft | Weblink
Historic England’s guidance on metal theft from places of worship | Weblink
For further information:
For further information please contact Edmund Harris, DAC Secretary.
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