Burglars Boast Householders 'Make It Easy For Them' In West Yorkshire

Tuesday October 30, 2012

Burglars in West Yorkshire have boasted that householders are ‘just making it easy’ for them to raid their homes by leaving their doors and windows unlocked.

West Yorkshire Police and partners are now urging householders to make sure they lock up and lock thieves out following research conducted to support the ‘It Only Takes a Minute’ burglary campaign which launched last week.

Officers across the Force will be visiting households across West Yorkshire throughout the Autumn and Winter months as part of the campaign to encourage residents to make their homes safer as dark nights draw in.

Advice and information will also be posted on Neighbourhood Police Team websites, Facebook pages and Twitter using the hashtag #wypburglary to support the campaign.

To support Police efforts to better focus work to combat burglars, the Force commissioned academics to interview a number of convicted burglary offenders about their experiences.

When questioned one offender said that by not locking doors householders were ‘just making it easy’ while another said: ‘we go and try doors which are sometimes open…the message should be lock your doors and close your windows...’

Another said local offenders referred to one community in West Yorkshire as ‘the bank’ as ‘ cos from a criminal point of view everyone makes a withdrawal.’

The research found that key deterrents for a burglar were still basic precautions such as alarms, not leaving doors and windows unlocked or keys on display would play a big part in putting them off committing offences.

Assistant Chief Constable Geoff Dodd of West Yorkshire Police, said: "The onset of darker nights is traditionally a time when burglaries rise, so we are doing all we can to get the message out there that taking some basic precautions can really make a difference in protecting your properties.

"This new research conducted for the Police with reformed offenders has confirmed that they will seek to exploit homes which are vulnerable and to hear a former offender say householders 'make it easy' for him just speaks for itself.

"We know it literally only takes 60 seconds for a thief to get in and steal from an unlocked home and that one in four burglaries are through an unlocked door. So the message is very simple, 'lock up and you will reduce your chances of becoming a victim."

The Assistant Chief Constable added: "It is a fact that levels of burglary are falling in West Yorkshire and we are getting smarter at helping prevent offences through schemes such as Project Optimal in Leeds in which officers use computer aided 'predictive policing' to help us target resources in locations where we think offenders will strike.

"This and the support of the partners in the judiciary in handing strong sentences to repeat offenders is having an impact but burglary rates in West Yorkshire still remain too high.

"I would urge residents to take note of this campaign and the crime prevention advice to help us keep up the pressure on thieves and keep driving offending rates down."

For more information on how you can better protect your home see the It Only Takes a Minute campaign at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/burglary