WE’VE already seen a surge in burglaries this winter, and like every year An Garda Síochána have launched the winter phase of Operation Thor, aimed at combatting that expected rise in burglaries during the longer dark evenings. Traditionally, burglaries can increase by up to 20% during winter months, when there is less daylight hours in the evening.

The most common time for burglaries to occur during the winter is between 5pm and 9pm on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. During those hours, it’s quite easy to pick out a vacant property if it is in darkness. No lights mean nobody’s at home, and this provides an easy target for the opportunistic burglar.

An Garda Síochána’s winter burglary advice is to ‘Lock Up and Light Up’. By leaving a light on or bringing one on with a timer switch after 5pm, creates the impression somebody is at home.

While we’re all conscious of energy costs, LED bulbs are much cheaper to run and provide whiter brighter light. An energy-efficient 5-Watt LED light bulb costs just a fraction of a cent per hour (€0.0015) to run and will only cost approximately €0.018 for 12 hours of light, which works out at a mere 4 cents per month.

Lock Up is a pretty obvious crime prevention measure and should include all external doors and windows that have a locking mechanism.  Door and window security standards are important, as standards mean the item has been tested to withstand a criminal attack for a prolonged period.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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