Police and partners join forces to tackle burglaries in Barrow

Barrow police and partner agencies from the Barrow Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership have joined forces to launch a large operation this December to tackle burglary in the town.

A new Burglary Action Group comprising of representatives from Cumbria police, NHS Cumbria, Fire and Rescue, Age Concern, Trading Standards, Neighbourhood Watch and Barrow Housing Association, has been formed to drive down the numbers of burglaries in the town. By pooling resources and having a joined up approach to the issue, the Group hopes to tackle the problem by raising awareness amongst the local community and delivering vital crime prevention advice to local residents on their doorsteps.

The newly formed group has planned a month long multi-agency campaign throughout December which centres around a three day ‘mega’ Streetsafe operation which will see over fifty police officers and many other group representatives visit over 1500 homes in Barrow to discuss crime prevention and offer free assessments on existing home security.

The operation will specifically target an area of Barrow that suffers from the highest number of burglaries according to police data. Over a three year period from January 2006 - October 2009, figures show that police received reports of 75 burglaries in the Salthouse area - which is markedly higher than the other neighbourhoods. Of the 75 burglaries reported to police, approximately 50 per cent occurred at insecure premises.

In the lead up to the campaign, officers have turned to local youngsters for help and have launched a poster competition within three local schools in Barrow. Pupils in year five and six at Sacred Heart, Greengate Juniors and St George's schools are submitting their final designs for a crime prevention poster which will be used to raise awareness of burglary in the local community.

Detective Inspector Dave Banks who is coordinating the operation said: “Communities in Barrow tell us that burglary is a top priority and this is a problem we are committed to tackling.

“When comparing other areas across the country, the numbers of burglaries in Barrow are very low and teams of officers work incredibly hard to ensure this continues. However, one burglary is one too many and we have identified a particular neighbourhood that has the highest numbers of burglaries in the town and we want the local community to be confident that we are doing all we can to ensure criminals no longer think of the area as an easy target.

“In the lead up to Christmas, teams of officers will be out and about in over 45 streets in Salthouse to hand out leaflets to local residents and experts will be on hand to provide advice on how to make homes more secure. Over half of the burglaries reported to us happen at insecure premises so we want to proactively provide residents with all the tools they need to help keep their homes - and Christmas presents – safe from burglars this year.

“Thankfully, like other areas across our county, Barrow is one of the safest places to live in the UK however between April 2008 – October 2009, we have seen a 39 per cent increase in burglaries in South Cumbria. As we raise awareness of the problem within the neighbourhood and gather the support of the public, we hope to significantly reduce this and give burglars a miserable Christmas this year.”