Burglaries in Cork have bucked a national trend, increasing by 6.9 per cent over the past year despite a decrease nationally. That's according to the annual eircom PhoneWatch Burglary Report. However, the figure is disputed by Anglesea Street Garda Station's Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant Tony Davis, who says official records show just a slight increase in the same period.

"While we don't release our own figures, our records show that there has been a slight increase in burglaries in Cork but no where near 6.9 per cent," said Sgt Davis.

A worrying statistic to emerge from the survey is that eight out of ten burglaries occur when the occupiers are present suggesting that burglars are not deterred by home occupancy.

However, Sgt Davis does not see this reflected in Cork. "I disagree with that. We look at burglaries everyday, we monitor them carefully and quite a lot of them occur during the day when there is no one home. We want to create awareness of security without people being frightened in their homes."

According to the report, Cork is now one of the top five burglary hotspots in the country, representing 9.4 per cent of all burglaries outside of Dublin. It also highlighted a shift in security consciousness among Irish consumers. More than three-quarters of the Irish population feel that they are more at risk from theft in recessionary times while a further 40 per cent feel more at risk from violent crime. An overall figure of 71 per cent feel that crime, as a whole, has increased in Ireland since the recession officially began in 2008.

The report also revealed a heightened sense of security awareness with 68 per cent of respondents claiming to be more security conscious as a result of the recession. Home security was found to be the issue of greatest concern to Irish people with 46 per cent citing home invasion as their primary security worry, followed by bank and ATM security (21 per cent).

According to Sgt Davis, the best way to protect your home is to invest in adequate locks and alarms. "A certified intruder alarm should be installed and used," he says. "People should also take advice from registered locksmiths as they will be up to date with the latest techniques and technologies.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment