"No one is blaming victims for being burgled - that is a ridiculous suggestion and all of our efforts on a day to day basis go into detecting burglaries and recovering property on behalf of victims.
What we are saying is despite repeated advice on the necessity to lock doors and windows, people are still leaving them open all night and even when they are away from their property. We would not have released this statement unless there was a genui
ne need for us to really hammer home this message and we appreciate the Journal giving it such prominence.
"If you leave your door open through the night and leave extremely valuable goods just inside that door you make a criminal's job very easy.
"A criminal will target your house over your neighbours' because their front doors are locked. If you leave a laptop on the front seat of your car then a criminal will target your car rather than the one next to it, which has no valuables on display. It is practically an invitation. This is basic common sense advice - and we will never shy away from issuing such advice if we believe it will improve crime prevention and make the public consider these issues and improve their security. We are sure Journal readers will understand and appreciate this kind of common sense and not interpret it as an attack on victims.
"Victims will always have
our sympathy, support and
100 per cent dedication from our officers in detecting crimes."
l Inspector Mark Housley
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