Burglary reduced by a fifth in Sheffield thanks to specialist police team

A team of detectives tasked with reducing burglaries in Sheffield have already seen a drop in break-ins by about a fifth.
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Formed in January 2019, Operation Furnace sees a dedicated team manage all burglary cases across the city.

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The team centralises intelligence to understand the working patterns of offenders, identify suspects and gather evidence to ensure thieves are brought to justice.

Liam Taffinder.Liam Taffinder.
Liam Taffinder.
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This year, more than 70 suspects have been arrested and interviewed in relation to burglary, aggravated burglary or robbery, of which 24 have been remanded in custody awaiting trial.

This has all resulted in a 20 per cent drop in reported burglary when compared to the figures just before the team was launched.

Detective Sergeant Jim Dyson said: “Some offenders we detain are responsible for a number of burglaries and other criminality across the city so it’s vital we continue to disrupt their activities.

Scott Plummer.Scott Plummer.
Scott Plummer.

“We experienced a spike in residential burglaries in late 2018 and there were often alarming similarities across many of the reports, including clothing worn and the descriptions given of the suspects.”

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The team’s recent efforts have resulted in a number of offenders being jailed.

This includes Liam Taffinder, aged 38, of no fixed address, who was jailed for six and a half years, Scott Plummer, aged 40, of no fixed address, caged for four years and 30-year-old Florin Rusin, of Darnall, who is now serving a sentence of three years and nine months behind bars.

Detective Dyson added: “I am glad we have been able to remove these offenders from the streets, and return property, vehicles and sentimental items such as photographs to their rightful owners.

“I hope our work so far offers a level of reassurance to the residents of Sheffield.”

You can report information to the police via 101, or anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.