Burglaries in Forest rise 50 per cent (From Salisbury Journal)

Burglaries in Forest rise 50 per cent

4:30pm Friday 27th January 2012 in New Forest News By Miranda Robertson

BURGLARIES in the New Forest rose by almost 50 per cent during a 16-week crackdown on the crime.

But Hampshire Constabulary’s Operation Nemesis has been extended until March after officers hailed it a success in general.

Chief Inspector Lucy Hutson said: “There was unfortunately an increase in burglaries in the New Forest area during the period from October last year until January 15 this year.

“The good news is, burglaries in total from April 2011 to year to date for the New Forest are 18 per cent lower than the same period last year and since the first of January 2012 to date there have been nine burglaries in the New Forest district compared to 33 during the same period last year.

“We have been doing lots of work to tackle burglary as part of Operation Nemesis and will continue to do so. Burglars should be aware if they come on to our patch we will do our utmost to find them and arrest them.”

In the period the operation was carried out, from October 1 until January 21, burglaries in the Forest shot up.

Police received reports of 107 dwelling burglaries in the New Forest district during the 16 weeks of Operation Nemesis, an increase of 32 offences when compared with June to October.

Just under 16 per cent of these were solved compared to 20 per cent of the 75 burglaries in the preceeding four months.

But the number of break-ins was down on the same period last year - there were 113 burglaries in the Forest from October 2010 to January 2011, with 14 of those solved.

A spokesman for the force said: “The seasonal peak in burglaries often experienced during December did not materialise and for the last six weeks the burglary figures have reduced consistently each week.

“So far in this recording year (April 2011 to March 2012) 4,163 burglaries have been reported to Hampshire Constabulary. Of these, 882 (21.2 per cent) have been solved.

“However, over a third of all dwelling burglaries are still the result of properties being left insecure, with windows being left open and doors unlocked.”

Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight burglaries have gone down by just over nine per cent, from 1,639 to 1,458, compared to the preceding 16-week period from June to October.

Burglaries fell by just over seven per cent from 1,570 to 1,458 compared with the corresponding 16 weeks in the previous year.