Burglary increase frightens town's elderly, mayor claims
Wednesday, 25th January 2012.
Some older people in Haverhill have become fearful since reading of the big increase in the number of burglaries being committed over the last couple of weeks, the town mayor told councillors last night.
Haverhill Town Council had been hearing about the increase from the town's police chief, Insp Peter Ferrie, who admitted to being 'very worried' about it.
He was asked if the switching off of street lights after midnight in some parts of the town could have encouraged the trend, but he said he had no evidence to support that.
However, darkness on some estates, including those which had been targeted recently, made it more difficult for police to do their job of catching the burglars, he said.
The town mayor, Cllr Maureen Byrne, asked the question because, she said, she had been told by some elderly residents that if they heard a noise at night and looked out into their gardens they could no longer see if anything suspicious was going on.
They had become fearful on reading of the latest burglary increases in the local newspapers.
Cllr Brian Hawes said he wanted to bring some sense of balance into the argument and doubted if many elderly people were looking out of their windows after midnight.
Cllr Pat Hanlon asked Insp Ferrie to convey his opinion to Suffolk County Council, who made the decision to cut back on street lighting to save money last year, but the inspector said he would not be drawn into a political argument.
Cllr Byrne said the town council would be able to make the point to the county council for themselves.
Insp Ferrie had reported a generally good year for crime figures, but a crime spike in the last two weeks, which he put down to 'one or two individuals' who police needed to catch.
There had been five domestic burglaries in Haverhill town last week compared with a weekly average of one, and seven shed or garage burglaries compared with a weekly average of two.
On the other hand there had been only 17 incidents of anti-social behaviour compared with a weekly average of 31.
Haverhill Town Council had been hearing about the increase from the town's police chief, Insp Peter Ferrie, who admitted to being 'very worried' about it.
He was asked if the switching off of street lights after midnight in some parts of the town could have encouraged the trend, but he said he had no evidence to support that.
However, darkness on some estates, including those which had been targeted recently, made it more difficult for police to do their job of catching the burglars, he said.
The town mayor, Cllr Maureen Byrne, asked the question because, she said, she had been told by some elderly residents that if they heard a noise at night and looked out into their gardens they could no longer see if anything suspicious was going on.
They had become fearful on reading of the latest burglary increases in the local newspapers.
Cllr Brian Hawes said he wanted to bring some sense of balance into the argument and doubted if many elderly people were looking out of their windows after midnight.
Cllr Pat Hanlon asked Insp Ferrie to convey his opinion to Suffolk County Council, who made the decision to cut back on street lighting to save money last year, but the inspector said he would not be drawn into a political argument.
Cllr Byrne said the town council would be able to make the point to the county council for themselves.
Insp Ferrie had reported a generally good year for crime figures, but a crime spike in the last two weeks, which he put down to 'one or two individuals' who police needed to catch.
There had been five domestic burglaries in Haverhill town last week compared with a weekly average of one, and seven shed or garage burglaries compared with a weekly average of two.
On the other hand there had been only 17 incidents of anti-social behaviour compared with a weekly average of 31.
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