Detectives send cheeky Christmas cards to known burglars and car thieves as a warning
Detectives in North Worcestershire are playing mind games with criminals, by sending cheeky Christmas cards to known burglars and car thieves - warning that they are keeping their eyes on them.
It comes after police said they had arrested 30 criminals targeting homes for ‘car key burglaries’ in December.
Police put the success down to intelligence they have received from local people who have witnessed suspicious activity in their community.
And Detective Sergeant Kelle Westwood said: “We are even contacting known offenders directly, warning them that we are keeping an eye for them!
"With Christmas, homes and cars may seem an attractive opportunity to burglars, however, we have sent them friendly Christmas cards from the police to remind them we’re watching them and that they don’t want to get on our naughty list again."
Perpetrators of car key burglary often target specific vehicles, based on demand and value, and the Roads Policing teams works closely with detectives in identifying those potentially driving stolen cars or looking to steal cars.
DS Westwood said: “I want to reassure the public that their support, their vigilance and their sense of community is invaluable in our fight to reduce these burglaries.
"We receive tip-offs and intelligence all the time from concerned neighbours, from local businesses and from potential victims, which we always investigate.
"Local people will see cars and people acting suspiciously and contact us, and thanks to ring doorbells, CCTV and dash-cam recordings we have never been better supplied with witness evidence or evidence-based intelligence.
"People work hard, and these are certainly challenging times however what is clear to me and the detectives working on these cases is that people are looking out for each other and wanting their communities to be safe from these gangs who come into our counties and think they can take what they want, with no reprisals."
He added: "Of the 30 arrests in the last month, eight people have been charged, with two remanded. There are reprisals, and eleven men have just been convicted of car key burglary in one case that Kidderminster CID brought to the CPS.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to protect the public from these organised crime gangs, Proactive CID in North Worcestershire have launched Operation Enzyme which will see us increase targeted patrols in areas of known concern, patrolling on the borders with Birmingham, known sites where stolen vehicles are taken. In fact. we have already disrupted and closed three ‘chop shops’ in the last five weeks.
DS Westwood added: “Our teams will also be working closely with colleagues in West Midlands Police and all along our borders and we will be continuing this intensive operation over Christmas and the New Year.
"I would ask that public please continue to feed us information, to contact us with concerns, to send us clips of suspicious vehicles, because by working together we will either stop these criminals from breaking into our homes and stealing vehicles or arrest those that do."
