Section 11 Crime and Policing Act 2026: Will It Change How Police Deal with Trespass?

For years, landowners have faced a familiar response when reporting trespass to the police: “It’s a civil matter.” While simple trespass has generally fallen within civil law, many incidents involve far more than someone merely being on land without permission. Criminal damage, theft, unlawful occupation, drug production and organised criminal activity often begin with an act of trespass.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 introduces an important new offence that may help police distinguish between ordinary civil trespass and trespass that is genuinely criminal in nature.

What Does Section 11 Do?

Section 11 creates the offence of trespassing with the intention of committing a criminal offence.

This is a significant development because it allows police to consider not only what has already happened, but also why the person entered the land in the first place. If there are reasonable grounds to believe that someone entered land intending to commit a criminal offence, the trespass itself may amount to a criminal offence under the Act.

The legislation does not criminalise every act of trespass. Genuine mistakes, innocent access or ordinary civil disputes between neighbours remain matters for the civil courts. However, where there is evidence of criminal intent, police now have an additional offence to consider during their assessment.

Why Is This Important?

In practice, police officers are often required to make quick decisions when called to reports of trespass.

Historically, many incidents have been categorised as civil matters because officers have focused solely on whether the people concerned had permission to be on the land. Section 11 encourages officers to go a step further and consider the wider circumstances surrounding the incident.

Questions officers may now ask include:

• How was entry gained?
• Was entry forced by cutting locks or damaging gates?
• Has criminal damage already occurred?
• Are tools or equipment present that suggest criminal activity?
• Is there evidence of theft, burglary or drug production?
• Are those present attempting to conceal their activities?
• Does local intelligence indicate organised criminal behaviour?

Rather than treating these facts as separate issues, they can now be considered together when deciding whether the new offence may have been committed.

How Does This Relate to Police Powers to Direct Trespassers to Leave?

Police already possess powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to direct trespassers to leave land where the statutory conditions are met. Those powers were intended to help prevent escalation and restore public order in appropriate cases.

One difficulty has been inconsistent decision-making. Some officers have understandably been cautious about exercising these powers where they believed the dispute was purely civil.

Section 11 should assist that decision-making process.

Where officers identify evidence suggesting that trespass was accompanied by an intention to commit criminal offences, they are no longer looking simply at civil trespass. They are assessing whether a criminal offence has already been committed by entering the land with criminal intent.

That wider assessment may provide greater confidence when considering whether existing statutory powers to direct persons to quit land should be exercised, provided all of the legal requirements for those powers are satisfied.

Evidence of Criminal Intent

Intent is rarely proved by a direct admission. Like many criminal offences, it is usually established by drawing reasonable inferences from the available evidence.

Examples may include:

• cutting locks or fences to gain entry;
• forcing entry into buildings;
• possession of burglary tools or specialist equipment;
• attempts to conceal activities from view;
• establishing cannabis cultivation or other illegal operations;
• stealing property or interfering with business operations;
• coordinated activity involving multiple individuals.

Each case will depend upon its own facts, but officers are entitled to consider the whole picture rather than viewing individual events in isolation.

Benefits for Landowners and Businesses

For commercial property owners, developers, farmers and managing agents, Section 11 may provide greater reassurance that reports of criminal trespass will receive a fuller assessment.

Where evidence points towards criminal intent, landowners should expect officers to consider:

• whether the new Section 11 offence may have been committed;
• whether any other criminal offences are disclosed;
• whether existing powers to direct trespassers to leave land should be exercised; and
• what action is necessary to prevent further criminal offending.

While every incident must be judged on its own merits, the legislation encourages a more proactive approach where criminality is evident from the outset.

What Information Should You Give the Police?

If you report trespass, it is helpful to provide officers with clear evidence rather than simply stating that people are on your land.

You should explain:

• how entry was gained;
• whether locks, fences or gates have been damaged;
• whether buildings have been entered;
• any theft or criminal damage that has occurred;
• what equipment or vehicles are present;
• why you believe criminal offences are intended or have already been committed; and
• whether there are any immediate risks to people or property.

Providing detailed information enables officers to assess both the new Section 11 offence and any existing powers that may be available.

A Welcome Step Towards Consistent Policing

Section 11 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 does not turn every trespass into a criminal offence, nor does it replace the safeguards that govern police powers. What it does is recognise an important distinction between simple civil trespassand trespass carried out with criminal intent.

For landowners who have long been frustrated by inconsistent police responses, the new offence should encourage a more thorough assessment of the circumstances and support better-informed decisions about when existing powers to direct persons to quit land ought to be exercised.

As with any police power, each case will depend on its own facts. However, where there is credible evidence that trespass forms part of criminal activity, Section 11 provides a clearer legal framework for early intervention—helping to prevent further offences before greater harm is done.