A fall in burglaries in lockdown may be a silver lining to the new restrictions – but business and community premises are more at risk.
With people ordered to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, there are fewer times when residential properties are unoccupied, providing fewer opportunities for robbers to break in undetected.
This is in contrast with the dangers normally posed by winter, when the long nights provide plenty of cover of darkness for those snooping around houses looking for a way in.
The reverse, however, is true for workplaces, which will often be left empty. This means lockdown could be a good time to invest in more and better security, such a biometric door systems.
Hampshire Constabulary only received 713 reports of burglaries in November 2020, compared with 1,001 in the equivalent period of 2019, the Southern Daily Echo reports.
A similar pattern was seen during the same month in West Yorkshire, the Halifax Courier reports. The tally of burglary reports in the county was 1,405, compared with 1,956 in November 2019.
As, Journalism.co.uk noted, it is not just thieves who will look to take advantage of the fact some commercial and community buildings will be empty in lockdown.
Sales director for property firm the VPS Group Paul Corten told the website: “We’ve already seen examples of an increase in vacant premises being targeted for illegal raves in the last fortnight.”
He noted thefts also included one case of 92 km of power lines and cabling being stolen by a gang, leading to power cuts for 45,000 homes.
Among the properties recently targeted by illegal rave organisers was All Saints Church in East Horndon, a 500-year-old building now used as a community centre.
The building suffered severe damage in the incident on New Year’s Eve, with ravers also clashing violently with police and three people being arrested.
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