Police are reminding the public to remain vigilant to keep their homes secure from burglars.
The advice comes as part of Lancashire Constabulary’s Operation Julius campaign and the national In Focus: Burglary and Stolen Good initiative that runs from today (Monday 18th November) to Friday.
Nationally and here in Lancashire, there is typically a rise in burglaries in November and December as the nights draw in and people are buying Christmas presents in the run up to the festive period.
Superintendent Damian Darcy, the Constabulary lead for Operation Julius said: “We have already been running our local campaign aimed at combatting burglary in Lancashire since October and we are using the national In Focus campaign to remind the public how to beat the burglar with crime prevention tips to keep their homes safe.
“Traditionally burglaries go up in November and December, and despite the number of these incidents being low in Lancashire, it’s important that we target burglars whilst giving people and shops advice to avoid becoming victims.
“But that’s not the end of it. We need the public to work with us by avoiding the temptation to buy cheaper goods and Christmas gifts that could have potentially been stolen.
“By purchasing these types of items, it fuel could more burglaries and most importantly, buying stolen goods is a criminal offence and the buyer could be liable for prosecution.”
During the ‘In Focus’ week, warrants will be executed at suspected burglars’ addresses and a burglary web chat will take place on the Lancashire Police Facebook page on Wednesday 20th November from 3.00 – 4.00pm, where Chief Inspector Derry Crorken will be answering questions on keeping your home safe.
Messages will also be tweeted from @lancspolice with the hashtags #infocus and #julius.
• If you would like to join in the web chat, ‘like’ the Facebook Lancashire Police page