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January 2025: A Year in Review |
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Dear Resident Residential Burglary – Charge, Remand, Imprisoned! Welcome to Day 1 of our 2025 Year in Review. I hope you have all enjoyed the end-of-year festivities and are looking forward to a New Year. As promised, this message serves as the first of a series of Good News bulletins, written to let you know of a variety of jobs attended by your local Police and the outcomes achieved. Don’t forget, you can share your feedback and opinions or let us know what sort of content you would like to receive by replying to this message or by rating it below! A residential property in Batford was unfortunately burgled in January 2025 during the day. The victim reported going out for lunch and on her return, she noticed her front door had been damaged, and someone had broken into the property to steal some electronic items. This incident was initially attended by a Response Police Officer who took the initial crime report, provided initial victim safeguarding, and completed initial House-to-House and CCTV enquiries. The Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) for the area alerted residents in the vicinity of the incident during his patrols and via our Herts Connected platform. Our Forensics Unit was deployed, and a positive hit was returned to the Investigating Officer which identified the offender. Extensive enquiries were carried out to locate this offender who was of No Fixed Abode. He was soon arrested by officers in Bedfordshire Police in February 2025 on suspicion of a theft offence and for the burglary outlined in this message. The suspect was brought into Custody for interview. Due to the evidence gathered, the suspect was Charged and Remanded to Magistrates’ Court. He was then further Remanded in Custody awaiting his sentencing trial in St Albans Crown Court. The offender was convicted at Crown Court in March 2025 and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and ordered to compensate the victim for the financial losses. Great work to all officers involved, particularly DC Lipari who managed the investigation. I’d like to take this opportunity to provide some crime prevention advice which, if followed, should make your property less attractive to burglars. During the Winter months, we can see a spike in residential burglaries as thieves will take advantage of the darker days and the poor weather as it is easier at this time of year to identify whether a house is occupied or not. For this reason, we are urging residents to take precautions to make their house appear occupied whenever possible. You can do this by following any of these tips: Keep a vehicle parked on your driveway. If you’re away with your only vehicle, ask a trusted neighbour to park their car on your driveway. Use a segment timer to have the lights or TV come on/off when you are out. Ensure your garden is clear of any tools, bricks, or items which could be used to gain entry into a house. Keep any valuables in a hard-to-reach location such as the loft. Install CCTV cameras, lights, and alarms. Ensure these devices are charged, connected to a secure network, and any motion detected is saved. We know the thought of a Burglary is concerning to residents so I hope this example illustrates our commitment to thorough investigations and proactive strategies to prevent offending in our community. If you have any concerns about this crime type, please do contact us.
Kind Regards, Fiona. | ||
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