Residents urged 'don't look the other way'

3:06pm Thursday 24th May 2007

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A special crime investigation by the Messenger carried out with Trafford police last year discovered ten insecure houses in just under-90 minutes.

But with the hot summer months upon us crime reporter Simon Greenhalgh discovered many residents are still not taking home security seriously...

"If you see something even the slightest bit suspicious let us know straight away; I’d rather have a mistaken call than a burglar on the loose."

Area Insp Brendan O'Brien

Click here to watch our special video report now.

During a recent incident in Sale burglars used a wheelbarrow left in the back garden of a property to carry off a plasma television from the occupant's house.

In an act of audacity it's believed one of the offenders, wearing a fluorescent vest, wheeled his way through the town for about three quarters of a mile without being challenged.

Trafford police received no phone calls about this incident and when they checked with residents they were told "we thought it was television repair man".

As part of a special "Billboard" reconstruction two plain-clothes officers pushed a wheelbarrow and plasma television through Sale to see what sort of response they would get.

During the first hour of the recreation, despite pushing their swag along some of Sale's busiest roads, only one member of the public telephoned the police to report the suspicious activity.

While on the street just one member of the public, a postman on his rounds, stopped the men to ask them what they were doing.

One woman who walked past the pair and who did not want to be named said: "I live nearby and had just come out of my house. I didn't even notice them, I suppose I was in a bit of a day dream really."

After receiving no reaction from the public the two officers decided to up the anti by offering the television to members of the public for £50. But again the men's activities received little response.

A 60-year-old Sale resident explained: "I was offered the television from a wheel barrow and I thought these people must be drunk or on drugs.

"The likelihood of carrying a television around in a wheel barrow seemed so ridiculous. I wasn't frightened or alarmed but I was having nothing to do with it.

"I didn't think about reporting it to the police because I didn't think it was serious enough. The fact it might have been stolen didn't even cross my mind. I just thought I'd look foolish if I phoned the police."

Trafford police say that between May and September last year more than a third of all burglaries in the borough were due to people leaving their doors and windows open or unlocked.

During the course of our investigation last week undercover officers showed us numerous examples of insecure properties including: unlocked gates and sheds and windows left open.

Sale Area Insp Brendan O'Brien said: "There's all this enforcement work going on targeting offenders and putting out the message to prevent burglary and the heartache it causes.

"But we can't do it on our own, we've got to have the community supporting us and it's so easy: keep your windows and doors shut, keep valuables out of site, don't leave car keys anywhere near the letter box.

"And, if you see something even the slightest bit suspicious let us know straight away; I'd rather have a mistaken call than a burglar on the loose."

Is there a reluctance to get involved in the fight against crime?

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