After rolling out more than 30,000 home property marking kits as part of Operation Spearhead in 2018/19, Surrey Police continue to make residential burglary a priority.
Among the recent crime trends highlighted in the county are Asian Gold burglaries, which are also recognised as a national problem. These crimes cause a great deal of suffering and economic harm to families as the stolen jewellery may represent both life-savings and also irreplaceable heirlooms.
North Surrey Police Division (which covers Elmbridge, Runnymede and Spelthorne boroughs) allocated additional resources to the problem, including both overt patrols and proactive covert work. This includes working and sharing information on a regional level with neighbouring forces which have also experienced crimes such as Thames Valley and the Metropolitan Police.
In North Surrey, any victim who has been burgled is offered expert advice from police Designing Out Crime Officers. Officers have also distributed SelectaDNA home marking kits to neighbourhoods with historically higher risk of residential burglary. Over 1,000 kits have been distributed in Runnymede alone. Police have also distributed leaflets in several Indian languages giving advice to mitigate the threat of burglary.
Spelthorne Police have also launched residential burglary schemes recently, distributing home kits to neighbourhoods including Sunbury and erecting deterrent signs on lamp posts and gates to warn thieves that SelectaDNA is in use in the area.
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