Capital break-ins cause misery for five households every day

Published on Saturday 5 April 2008 11:07

THE number of housebreakings in Edinburgh is back on the increase, with new figures showing five homes a day are targeted.

But while more houses are being hit, the number of businesses falling victim has dropped by a quarter.

A new report shows that 1378 break-ins to homes were carried out between last April and January across the city.

Detectives solved 60 per cent of cases, but the break-in figure climbed by 13 per cent against the same period the year before. That still represents a significant drop in housebreakings since 2005, when seven-a-day were being recorded in Edinburgh alone.

Police chiefs today said that catching housebreakers and preventing thefts remained a high priority for officers.

A special squad was set up to target a hit-list of "super burglars" identified as being responsible for the majority of break-ins in Edinburgh.

A police spokesman said: "Housebreaking remains one of our key priorities within the city of Edinburgh, and we remain focused on reducing domestic and business housebreakings through prevention, intelligence-gathering and targeted action."

Councillor Iain Whyte, convener of the Lothian and Borders Police board, said the slight rise over the last nine months was a "worry", but welcomed the broad trend over the last few years.

He said: "I hope the chief constable continues to make housebreaking a priority in the wake of this increase, and helps to continue the decrease we have seen.

"I know that the police have been working closely with the chamber of commerce to prevent break-ins and these figures are very welcome."

One third of business break-ins were solved by police between April and January, a rise on the 26 per cent figure for the year before.

Police chiefs have also cited the imprisonment of serial burglars who target firms or homes as another possible factor behind the overall decline in incidents.

Last year, Chief Inspector Amanda McGrath was placed on secondment with the business community, based at the offices of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce at Festival Square.

Her appointment, which was believed to be the first of its kind in Scotland, was aimed at boosting security for businesses by providing advice and support.

Graeme Bell, spokesman for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: "We found it very gratifying that a senior officer like Amanda was placed with the chamber, which showed the police's commitment to working in partnership.

"Although it is difficult to make a direct connection with this decrease in break-ins, I would like to think that her work had an impact because it has been exemplary. She has enlightened the business community about security issues.

"Businesses have been encouraged to invest in security technology, such as CCTV, and that has also been important.

"The police have engaged with business, and that dialogue is a two-way process."