Lock up, Light Up: Garda winter tips to keep out the burglars

The Gardí have relaunched Operation Thor with top tips to keep your house and property safe and secure during the winter season.

• Secure all doors and windows.
• Light up your home, use timer switches when out.
• Use your alarm, even at home.
• Store keys safely and away from windows & letter boxes. 
• Record details of valuables and don’t keep large cash amounts at home.
• In winter, approximately half of all burglary occurs between 3pm and 12am.
• Burglaries often take place between Monday- Saturday from 5pm and 10pm.
• However, post-April 2020, a large number of burglaries occurred in the early hours of the morning (12am – 6am).
• Cash/Cheques and Jewellery/Trophies were the two object types that were targeted the most in burglaries making up over 40% of all reported items.
• The main points of entry for burglaries are the front door, rear door, and rear window.

Gardaí said compared to previous years, a greater proportion of burglaries have occurred in premises that were unsecured and since April 2020 over 1 in 4 burglars entered residential premises through an unsecured door or window.

The guards add that, in winter, a greater proportion of burglaries occur by entry from the rear of premises. This proportional increase has been more pronounced during the Covid-19 period and n winter, a greater proportion of burglaries occur by forcing a secured window/door, they added.

Gardaí said residential burglary has decreased sharply since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and has remained at this low rate despite the relaxation of many pandemic-related restrictions that have resulted in the restoration of other crime types to pre-pandemic levels.

"A major factor in maintaining this low level of burglary is likely to be the number of people still working from home. What happens regarding longer-term and widespread WFH arrangements in the coming months will likely have a bearing on the level of burglary in the longer term." said An Garda Siochana. 

"Returning to an office environment could be a crucial time for burglary prevention as people will have gotten used to WFH and have not been adhering to a normal locking-up routine for over a year." added Gardaí.

Lock Up, Light Up is the message from the 7th winter phase of Operation Thor.

To avail of the home security checklist challenge, click here.