POLICE have vowed to flush out and prosecute remaining active burglars in Barnsley after year-on-year figures revealed incidents have been slashed by almost half.
A spate prompted police to create an action plan early this year after concerns from residents in out-of-town areas as well as businesses in Barnsley town centre, who had been hit hard by burglaries.
Retailer Topshop, on Cheapside; Kitchen Bistro, Pitt Street; Annie Murray’s, Market Hill; The Courthouse, Regent Street and Bistro Romano’s, Jock’s Cavern, Alexander cocktail bar and The Grill Pit, all on Shambles Street, were targeted during early-morning raids late last year.
According to police figures, which run from August 2017 to July 2018, there were 173 residential burglaries recorded at the start of the period.
But having been on the decline since March, when police hubs across Barnsley began to step up their on-street presence, in July this year 91 were recorded almost half of what it was 11 months ago.
In July 2017, 44 businesses were burgled but that sparked a four-month increase which saw an average of 66 reports per month, with most taking place within the town centre.
However, that figure was reduced to 30 by July and, although the police admit there’s still a lot to be done, the work has been hailed as a step in the right direction.
DCI Paul Murphy, who has led the clampdown, said: “A burglary is one of the most intrusive crimes anyone could go through as they involve a stranger going into a home or business premises and the impact of that cannot be underestimated.
“We’re not saying we’ve completely got rid of Barnsley’s problems with burglaries but we’re on the right path now and the figures show that a lot of work has been done to address it.
“That’s to officers’ credit as we have had more visibility in hotspot areas across Barnsley, as well as a dedicated team in the town centre working alongside business owners.
“A key thing for us has been improving burglary victims’ confidence in us. We are in affected communities but we are also proactively targeting individuals who we believe to be involved in burglaries.
“We take this form of crime very seriously and we put a robust action plan in place to show that.
“We will do all we can to arrest people responsible, but we need the public’s help to point us in the right direction.”
Having hit its peak in August 2017, a month in which 239 combined residential and business burglaries were recorded across the town, crime prevention stalls were put up at high footfall venues such as supermarkets and Barnsley Interchange, and officers were deployed to conduct more foot patrols.
That has led to confidence increasing in the force’s ability to cope with burglaries, according to a report compiled by Barnsley District Commander Scott Green, although it is something the police want to build on in affected areas such as Barnsley East.
