After committing to attend all burglary reports in the region earlier this year, the decision to do so is starting to pay dividends, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary have announced.
In September 2022, Acting Chief Constable Ben Snuggs made a commitment that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary would attend to every single dwelling burglary report that they received.
In the last 2 months, the force has already seen the number of charges they have achieved for residential burglary double compared to recent monthly averages as the Force makes the very most of the forensic opportunities available through physical attendance.
In October and November, they secured 22 charges relating to residential burglaries, with many more investigations underway. Since 1st April 2022, they have already seen 112 burglary investigations result in formal action, such as charges, being taken.
Burglary reports across Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight have increased in recent months, which is in line with annual trends as the clocks change and evenings grow darker earlier.
However, the number of burglary reports is still significantly fewer than the levels recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 1st September 2018 and 31st August 2019 a total of 4,127 reports were received. That compares to 3,010 reports received between 1st September 2021 and 31st August 2022. Since 1st April 2022 have received just over 2,100 reports of dwelling burglary.
Acting Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said:
“In recent weeks we have seen around 75 dwelling burglaries reported to us each week across Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Every single one of these burglaries can cause significant distress to victims, which is why I made a commitment earlier this year to attend every residential burglary report we received.
Article continues below this advertisement “Over the course of this year we have delivered a range of initiatives across Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight to increase the number of offenders who are identified and brought to justice. This is being coordinated by a central burglary improvement group – ensuring all the right specialists are involved to turn things around.
“Every deployment is an opportunity to capture evidence, identify lines of enquiry and capture offenders and increase the number of cases in which formal action is taken.
So now they are really doing what they should be doing in the first place, never the less good news.
What a surprise!!! If you investigate crimes you catch more criminals. Who would have thunk it.
Because the Police were told to attend every burglary. It was very low on their priority list, majority of people never saw a copper, were just given a crime number.
Glad it’s paying off now and the scum bags who break in and steal are being apprehended.
About time!
I wonder what the rationale was for not investigating in the first place…..not an effective use of police resources…..if so they seemed to have disproved themselves.
I know right
This is so bad….as an ex officer I can say that all dwelling breaks were attended by uniform, CSI and the CID to do a proper investigation and we enjoyed catching burglars. How has it got so bad that to save costs , whilst wasting tons of cash on a failed new HW (alpha park millions lost) it was thought sensible to stop going to such an important issue to the public you are supposed to serve? I can’t say I am surprised the senior bods at Hants now are useless and too daft to notice they are – Dunning Kruger all day long
To find your personal and private space has been ransacked is a traumatic experience, burglary investigation should be a top priority.
How about tackling Vehicles that are driving around the Island with
NO MOT
It makes me angry that many individuals think they are above the Law.
There is a vehicle currently parked along Great Preston Road Ryde with NO MOT
Yellow Vauxhall Corsa
Very frustrating when returning home from work and you are unable to park because
Vehicle owners who do not pay their way are parking illegally on the Road.
GOV.UK Clearly state that a vehicle owner may be fined £1,000.00 for doing so.