Burglaries down just 8% for the first quarter of this year

Surely nobody would be breaking into homes this year, because we’ve been home almost all the time, right? That doesn’t really seem to be the case, judging from the Q1 data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Burglaries did decrease from Jan – March of this year, but not as much as you may expect. There were 3,882 burglaries in the first quarter of 2020 in Ireland, which is just a decrease of 8% compared to the same period of 2019.

This comes even after the country had pretty much been in lockdown for the final two weeks of March. Surprisingly, almost 30% of the Garda Divisions in the country actually reported an increase in burglaries this year compared to last year.

Any decrease in burglaries is obviously positive news for the public, but break-ins had been trending downwards in recent years anyway. Last year, they decreased 5% in Q1 compared to 2018 and in 2018, they dropped by 10% in the first three months 2017. All of which makes it surprising that the figure didn’t drop lower this year, as for the last few weeks of March, many of us were spending a lot more time at home, as we geared up for the inevitable lockdown.

The Q2 data will be more telling, but it does look like burglars weren’t that deterred by more people being at home earlier in the year.

It was reported that the drug industry was suffering during the lockdown period, which historically drives many lower-level criminals from that industry to crimes like break-ins.

With all this in mind, we continue to encourage our customers to stay vigilant and to remember to secure your home even when you’re in. Just because you’re home more, doesn’t mean your home won’t be targeted. Based off the 3,882 burglaries reported, that breaks down to more than one every half an hour for the first quarter of 2020!

Quick reminder for all HomeSecure customers, remember to always double check your app to make sure you set your alarm successfully.

If you’re interested in securing your home with a monitored alarm, freephone us today on 1800911731