Burglary crime down but damage to property increased
Limerick’s GGL Security has examined the latest Recorded Crime Statistics data published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the fourth quarter of 2020.
It reveals burglary and related offences dropped from 233 offences in Q4 2019 to 121 offences in Q4 2020, showing a decrease of 48%.
However, damage to property and the environment rose from 269 offences in Q4 2019 to 281 offences in the same three-month period of 2020, representing an increase of 4.46%.
John Delaney, Technology Director with GGL Security, who oversees all the electronic security systems employed by GGL including intruder alarm, and CCTV from their Alarm Monitoring Centre in the city, commented:
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge influence on crime over the last twelve months and security companies like GGL have seen the dramatic changes first hand and we have had to respond accordingly.
“We can see from the latest figures of the final quarter of 2020, and comparison with the same period in the previous year, that home burglaries reduced dramatically due to people being in their homes more, from working remotely to not getting away weekends or on holiday.
“However we did see a rise in damage to property as commercial property became more of a target. Whether it is due to properties being closed or operating on skeleton staff, they would appear to be more at risk now.
“Owners of commercial property need to be vigilant not to leave any exposed weak points in their security plan. We would often advise making vacant properties look occupied but I know this is harder with large sectors of business having their operations closed at the moment. However security measures including monitored alarms with alarm response and CCTV, and audio responders if required, will all help mitigate against risk of intrusion and theft.
“We also see non-essential retail for example taking extra steps to ensure their properties are regularly inspected for things like water damage or anything else that might go unnoticed when the business is closed.”
GGL Security was founded in Limerick in 1994, and has its Alarm Monitoring Centre located at the company headquarters in Lock Quay, Limerick City. For more information on alarm and CCTV monitoring, or any other security services, call 061 319077, email info@gglsecurity.com or visit www.ggl.ie