Northamptonshire burglaries reduced by 50 percent since launch of specialist team, according to police

The number of burglaries in Northamptonshire has reduced by 50 percent since the launch of a specialist team, according to police.

Operation Crooked launched on April 1, 2019 and is Northamptonshire Police’s campaign to reduce burglary, which saw the launch of two burglary teams covering both the north and west of the county.

The teams sit within CID and ensure that every burglary victim in Northamptonshire gets a visit from the police.

Five years on from the launch, police say, overall, burglaries have reduced by 50.2 percent, or 3061 victims. This breaks down to a 46.7 percent reduction in residential burglaries and a 56.4 percent reduction in commercial burglaries.

Police also say victim satisfaction is also up to 77 percent.

Head of Crime – Detective Superintendent Rich Tompkins, said: “Our burglary teams are passionate about what they do and we have had some fantastic results in the past five years, most notably the significant reduction in incidents.

“Our teams are not just focused on catching the burglars after incidents have occurred, but also working with our crime prevention teams, intelligence colleagues and other departments across the Force, to do as much as we can to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place.

“A 50 per cent overall reduction in just five years is fantastic news but I want to make it clear that we will continue working hard to reduce these figures even further.

D/Supt Tompkins added: “Burglary is much more of a violating crime than people think. Victims are left with the knowledge that someone has been inside their home, their safe place, and this leaves them feeling unsafe and anxious.

“That’s why we feel it’s important to make sure every victim gets a police visit so we can provide them with some reassurance.

“Our burglary teams are here to stay and will continue working hard to reduce incidents, prevent crimes and put offender behind bars.”

In the last year, home invasion burglaries have also fallen by 6.1 percent and commercial burglaries are down by five percent.

Police say there has been particular success in the north of the county as well where burglaries as a whole have reduced by 12.1 percent with a massive 21.1 percent reduction in commercial burglaries.