Police chief vows to battle burglars

GREATER Manchester’s new police chief has made tackling house burglary one of his top priorities.

In only his second week, Chief Constable Peter Fahy outlined details of a series of operations designed to make neighbourhoods safer — and appealed for the public’s help.

Chief Constable Fahy said “If you see people acting suspiciously around you or your neighbour’s house, or believe older people are being targeted, call us immediately.

“We need information on those who are committing these crimes and selling the stolen goods.”

Crime in Greater Manchester is continuing to fall. There has been a 6 per cent reduction in serious violent crime, including robbery.

But officers are concerned about a recent rise in house burglary.

He added: “People traditionally think burglars break into empty houses at night but things are changing. Many burglaries are what are called ‘sneak in’ thefts where people leave the back door unlocked when they are in another part of the house.

“There are also distraction offences where older people are targeted by bogus callers pretending to be officials from the ‘water board’. We need people to make sure they take all sensible crime prevention measures to guard against sneak in thefts and to keep car keys out of sight.”

GMP believes factors behind the rise include increases in the price of stolen metal, prolific offenders being released from prison and offenders taking the risk because they think sentences will be short.

He added: “Our focus is to ensure there are fewer victims of crime. At the moment this means asking people to support us in the fight against burglars.”