Burglaries in Warwickshire fall by 20 per cent - and it's not just because of the lockdown

The number of houses being burgled in Warwickshire has dropped by 20 per cent in the past 12 months.

From April 2019 to March 2020, 1,643 house burglaries were reported across the county.

In the year before that there were 2,065 house burglaries - meaning 422 fewer households were burgled from 2019-20, a reduction of 20 per cent.

Chief Supt Ben Smith said: “We know the impacts home burglaries can have on local communities, and every burglary is one too many.

"However, we’re really happy to see that we’ve had a significant reduction in these offences, and our work is ongoing to try and bring these numbers down even further."

Chief Supt Smith acknowledged that the lockdown, which began in March this year, may have pushed the number of burglaries down.

But he explained that, up until February, there was still a 19.6 per cent decrease since the same time the previous year - with 1,545 burglaries as opposed to 1,924.

He added: “Throughout the county, we have dedicated teams who investigate house burglaries as well as targeting known burglary hotspots and offenders.

"We’ve been working tirelessly with the public and with other forces and thankfully, this is having a significant impact on offences.

“Working with our local communities to tackle crime is paramount and we continue to urge people to come forward and report any concerns they have to us, whether it is suspicious activity or something out of the ordinary, if they report it we can take action.

"The information we receive from local residents helps us build a picture of what is happening in our local communities and allows us to take action to prevent further crime.”