Police are warning the public to secure their homes following a rash of day-time burglaries in the Road Town area since the start of the year.
Between January and April, police recorded 15 dwelling burglaries, compared to four during the same period in 2022, according to the Police Information Office.
“Main areas affected are within the Road Town area to include Huntums Ghut, Horse Path, Pasea Estate, Lower Estate, Free Bottom, Main Street and McNamara,” the PIO stated in a press release issued last Thursday.
“Perpetrators often gain entry to homes during the day through unsecured windows, especially those obscured from public view.”
Unsecured windows
Acting Detective Chief Inspector Vernon Larocque, who heads the Criminal Investigations Department, said homeowners often report that they secured all the windows except one that needed to be repaired.
“In too many instances, this is the window that a perpetrator uses to gain access,” he said. “Homeowners should take the time to repair the locking mechanism for any inoperable windows and lock all windows that allow for easy access. Burglars are looking for any weak points of entry. If there is not an easy way to enter, a burglar will likely move on.”
Mr. Larocque also advised residents to install home security cameras.
“In this modern era, CCTV is accessible, inexpensive and easy to install,” he said. “The footage can be stored remotely on the cloud and can be monitored in real time from any location around the world. Law enforcement can also be alerted while the offence is being committed.”
Items stolen
In the recent burglaries, the most common stolen items were cash, jewellery and tools, police said.
Anyone with information on a burglary can confidentially call the Crime Stoppers hotline 800-8477 (TIPS) locally or 1-284-800-8477 from overseas, according to the PIO.
The police Intelligence Unit can also be reached directly at 368-9339.