Commuter homes at higher risk of burglary

Do you commute to work every day? If so, you might want to take some time to read this, as your house could be a major target for a new wave of clever burglars.

The Irish Times reports that an analysis of the latest crime figures have revealed that burglaries increased by a massive 40 per cent in some parts of Ireland last year. Okay, so why is that important for you? Well apparently the largest increases were seen in areas where the majority of people commute to work.

Yes, commuter towns have been targeted by burglars who are seizing the opportunity to break into homes when they know that the owner will be away.

So where are all the burglaries happening? According to the data, the Dublin metropolitan southern division recorded the most break-ins last year. Apparently 2,374 homes were targeted by thieves.

The reason behind Dublin’s high level of break-ins was due to the amount of homes left unattended why the owners are commuting and working, and the fact that Dublin has some of Ireland’s worst poverty black spots and rates of drug addiction. Surprisingly, the North Side of Dublin recorded some of the lowest rates of burglaries in the capital.

Other areas that have been hit hard by break-ins include Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Limerick.

Sources from the gardaí have said that they are not surprised that after the Dublin, the next worst-affect areas were regions that were located beside the city.

“The way development has gone down the years, big parts of places like Meath, Wicklow and Kildare are now what you would call suburbs of Dublin, so what you see happening in Dublin in terms of crime, you would expect to see in those places too,” said one source.

“A lot of the burglaries in these places are carried out by locals, but there’s no doubt that criminals from Dublin are travelling out a bit and hitting houses in counties closest to Dublin,” said another source.

According to gardaí, burglaries have increased as criminals are trying to find items that they can sell easily in order to make quick money. This means that they are more likely to steal jewellery, televisions and laptop computers.

Commuter homes are an easy target as the owner (or owners) are usually away from early in the morning to late at night, and all of these items are available in a family home.

So if you spend a lot of time in your car or on the bus, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a pretty good house alarm…