Garda warning on winter burglaries: Turn on alarm even when in house

Gardai have issued advice on preventing winter burglaries when break-ins jump by 13%.

Burglary Prevention Advice - Top 5 Tips

1. Secure all doors and windows.
2. Light up your home, use timer switches when out.
3. Use your alarm, even when at home.
4. Store keys safely and away from windows and letterboxes.
5. Record details of valuables and don’t keep large amounts of cash at home.

On this month’s Crime Prevention segment on CrimeCall on RTE, Sergeant Kelvin Courtney was in studio to discuss An Garda Síochána’s Crime Prevention Initiative Operation Thor as the Winter Phase is launched.

Operation Thor is An Garda Síochána’s national anti-crime strategy, which was launched in November 2015. The primary focus of Operation Thor during the winter months is on preventing and detecting burglaries.

Proactive policing under Operation Thor has led to the disruption of Inter-Regional Travelling Criminals (IRTCs) operating nationwide, using the extended motorway network, and has resulted in the arrest of a number of prolific offenders targeted under this initiative.

Since the instigation of Operation Thor there has been a marked impact on burglary and related offences across the country. Operation Thor has primarily focused efforts on residential related burglary offences, due to the profound impact and social harm that can be caused by this type of criminality. Since the beginning of Operation Thor, residential related burglaries have reduced by about 34%, while non-residential related burglaries have reduced by 23%, when compared to an equivalent period, before the operation was launched.

Winter Burglary Facts

• Around 37% of burglaries occurred between 5:00pm and 9:59pm last winter.
• Jewellery and cash comprised the highest value property stolen (€5.6 million).
• The main entry point used by burglars was the rear door or window (43%).
• 17% of burglaries involved entry through an unsecured door or window.
• Over €8 million worth of property was stolen in residential burglaries last winter.

Residential Burglaries have fallen by 8% in the last twelve months, according to figures from the Garda Síochána Analysis Service. Since the launch of Operation Thor in 2015, residential burglary has decreased.

Currently, the count for the last 12 months is at its lowest in the last five years with around 12,000 residential burglaries reported.

This compares to around 20,700 residential burglaries in the period October 2014 to September 2015 prior to the launch of Operation Thor.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office confirm that burglary and related offences have decreased since Operation Thor began.

Complacency should be avoided however, as, traditionally, residential burglaries begin to rise as winter approaches.

Last year, 13% more residential burglaries occurred in the winter months than in the summer.

A Home Security Checklist Challenge is available for download here and at www.garda.ie. More home security and crime prevention advice can also be found on the Garda website.