24
Nov
2015
By Calvin at 16:26 GMT, 8 years ago
Police are appealing for witnesses after burglars struck three times in the Chandler's Ford area (north of Southampton) in recent days.
Burglary 1. Pine Road, between 8.15am -1.15pm on Tuesday November 17. The offenders kicked in a UPVC panel in the back door and after an untidy search stole cash and jewellery, including a Tiffany engagement ring and a wedding ring.
Burglary 2. Park Road (different house) between 10am -2.15pm on Tuesday November 17. The offenders kicked in a UPVC panel in the back door and after an untidy search stole around £1,000 cash.
Burglary 3 Peverells Road between 11am and 7.15pm on Thursday November 19. The offenders forced open a conservatory door and stole an amount of cash and at least £6,000 worth of jewellery.
PC Matt Blake said: “We would like to speak to anyone who saw people acting suspiciously in the area around the time of the burglaries."
You can contact PC Blake at Southampton Central police station on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
TCPW Comment
Obviously I don’t have the full details of these burglaries; only what I’ve read in the newspaper, so I took a stroll along Pine Road using Google Street View.
This is a very pleasant, long and meandering road with a mixture of house types and bungalows. Alarm boxes are noticeably absent and there are a number of large properties set back from the road that have high hedges along their front boundaries offering a good deal of privacy (for the thief too). Any burglar walking along Pine Road would consider it to be a street worth his attention and would certainly see the same opportunities I have. They could even have used Street View to plan their day. A check on Police.uk shows that this road has reported just one property crime to the police in the last two years, so naturally people along the road feel safe.
For all the benefits of Google Street View and Police.uk’s crime mapping application we have to remember that thieves can look too. They can research the vulnerabilities along a particular street before they go there and even find out about the crime that takes place along it. They’ll also realise that areas with low crime rates don’t get policed the same as areas with high crime rates, so their chances of meeting a police officer along the road will be very low indeed.
So, if I lived along Pine Road or in the local neighbourhood up to now an alarm wouldn’t be high on my priority either, but having heard about these burglaries I would be on the blower to an NSI or SSAIB registered alarm company straightaway, because of my concern for repeat victimisation of the neighbourhood. I’d also get a safe to keep the jewellery and cash in too and make sure my home security measures matched that required by the insurers.
Source Hampshire Chronicle: http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/14093676.Burglars_strike_three_times_in_Chandler_s_Ford/
Burglar Alarms Advice: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/gardens-lighting-access-and-alarms/501/burglar-alarms-advice/
Directory – Burglar Alarms http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/directory/2/alarm-systems/
