Police vow to 'strike fear' into Lancashire burglars (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Police vow to 'strike fear' into Lancashire burglars

10:00am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in News By Jon Livesey, Reporter

POLICE have vowed to ‘strike fear’ into suspected burglars by filming them and visiting them at their homes as part of a major crackdown.

Officers will visit Lancashire’s top 30 burglary suspects, execute search warrants and increase high-visibility patrols in hot spot areas.

Suspected offenders will be filmed at different times of day and night to remind them they are being watched.

And police will form a ‘ring of steel’ around the county by using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to target criminals travelling into Lancashire.

The activity is part of the Month-long Operation Julius, which launched yesterday (1).

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Cooke said the operation was launched in response to an increase in incidents, some in East Lancashire, at the end of last year.

He said: “Basically, the aim is to put fear into suspected burglars because we do not want them putting it into the community.

“It’s about them feeling uncomfortable, so they know that if they commit an offence we will catch them and put them before the courts.”

In Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, 804 burglaries were reported in 2011, compared to 824 in 2010.

Police in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, last year received reports of 911 burglaries, which had fallen from 1,014 the year before.

Ass Ch Con Cooke said around quarter of burglaries were committed at homes where residents left windows or doors unlocked.

He said: “Burglary in Lancashire remains low and we are determined to keep it that way.

“This campaign is about focusing our activities on those people who persistently commit burglary so we can reduce even further the number of victims affected by these crimes.

“It is disappointing to know that amongst those that have taken place, many could have been avoided through simple crime prevention measures.

“We need residents to work with us when it comes to combating crime and locking out thieves.”

A similar operation in July 2009 saw 440 people arrested, almost £300,000 of stolen property recovered and more than 200 search warrants executed.

Police seized 141 vehicles and visited more than 5,000 suspects.

In excess of 6,000 suspects were stopped and searched, and officers visited 880 second hand shops to search for stolen property.

People can follow the police activity on Twitter @LancsPolice and on hashtag #OpJulius.