THIRTY burglaries a day reported in South Yorkshire - here's what police are doing about it

Between January and December 2020, there were 10,946 break-ins, with 7,825 homes targeted.

Five years earlier, when there were 12,695 burglaries reported, there were an average of 35 a day.

To tackle the issue in Sheffield, extra staff have been deployed to a specialist team set up to tackle residential burglaries.

In a police progress report, Sheffield’s District Commander, Chief Superintendent Shelley Hemsley, said every single residential burglary in the city is now reviewed at the time the offence is made and when the case is closed to ensure everything possible has been done to catch culprits.

Chf Supt Hemsley said: “At the beginning of March, Sheffield District increased staffing into a specialist team targeting residential burglaries and those offenders who commit them.

“We ensure that a Detective Sergeant supervising the department reviews every single residential burglary that occurs in Sheffield at the point of the victim’s initial report and also at the point of closure.

“Dedicated officers within the team are allocated each week to investigate all burglaries that are committed during this period.

“This new process means the supervisors and investigation officers have a far greater knowledge of all the burglaries that occur including locations, method and potential offenders. This means they are quicker to identify patterns, which allows offences to be linked more quickly allowing the district to target resources in the right areas.

“These processes are designed to improve the service to victims and bring more offenders to justice.”

She added: “Sheffield district continues to work closely with partners to tackle a particular organised crime group that are involved in residential burglaries across the city as part of our response under Operation Fortify. This has led to significant disruption activity, including arrests of suspects, recovery of criminal property including stolen vehicles and a reduction in burglary offending rates in recent weeks.

“The district Detective Inspector chairs a weekly Serious Acquisitive Crime Governance Group. This group provides a forum for internal partners including the neighbourhood inspectors, intelligence department and proactive team to identify hotspots, crime series, prolific offenders and preventative opportunities. This enables effective coordination of operational activity between departments to ensure service delivery to our communities.”

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