“Stop Making Life Easy for the Burglar”

An astonishing sixty five per cent of all burglaries reported in Crewe during April involved the burglar simply walking through an unlocked door.
Police say they find it hard to understand why so many people are leaving their homes wide open to crime. They have issued another warning to people to lock up.
Nineteen of 29 burglaries in Crewe during April were sneak-ins. The burglar had to do no more than press the door handle and push the door open. Fifteen of these were carried out late at night, mostly while the family were asleep upstairs.
Detective Inspector Nigel Groom, in charge of the Cheshire Police Eastern Area Burglary Unit said, “Carelessness on this scale is difficult to understand.
“We have been living for some time with a situation where a third of all burglaries in this area are carried out through insecure doors. That is bad enough, but these latest figures in Crewe almost double that rate.
“We are running an active campaign to encourage people to lock up. We have backed this up with repeated warnings about the number of burglaries involving insecure premises.
“Although the situation in some parts of the Area has improved, many people in Crewe seem to leave their doors unlocked as a matter of routine and even go to bed without turning the key.
“They should realize that there are criminals who specialize in this type of burglary. They prowl the streets, nipping in and out of gardens and checking doors, just to find one which is unlocked. When they do, it means you are going to loose cash, cards, laptops, games consoles, jewellery and anything else which the burglar can lay his hands on and carry away easily.
“And you can usually forget about claiming off the insurance. Most insurance companies will now refuse to pay up in any case where they find- or even suspect- that the property has been left insecure. It’s not hard to understand their point of view. Anyone who leaves a door unlocked is just declaring their property “open house” to a criminal.
“Our advice is to keep doors locked at all times- whether you are outside or in the house- and always check all the doors and windows before you go to bed.
“We have a lot of success identifying and arresting burglars and in collecting evidence to convict them but we would prefer that the burglaries do not happen in the first place. As crime prevention devices, a lock and key can be very effective, as long as they are used.
“A lot of people obviously feel ‘it can’t happen to me’. I have to tell them ‘it can and does.’”

At 17:50 hours on 29.04.2010 a Distraction Burglary occurred.

The elderley AP at the address answered the door to two males who claimed to be from the electric board.

The males have entered the property and removed £1000 from an upstairs wardrobe.

The only description available of the males is that one was of thin build, approximately 5'5" tall and wearing a light top and dark gloves.