The force say tackling burglary is a top priority for them due to the personal trauma it causes victims.
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00:00Burglary reports in Merseyside are at their lowest since 2018 when the force established Operation Castle as part of a comprehensive strategy to tackle burglary.
00:12Since Operation Castle began, the force has seen burglary rates fall by 56% and by 16% in the last 12 months alone.
00:21We just want to thank our communities because without them and without our dedicated burglary team, Operation Castle and the rest of our force, we wouldn't be able to be where we are today.
00:33The Operation Castle team tackles serious linked burglaries and works alongside the teams of detectives that investigate crime across the five local authority areas in Merseyside.
00:44Our offenders are getting more savvy, but so are we. We've got our different ways of investigating crimes these days. Any information that our communities can give us is much appreciated.
00:52We will then act upon that and try and enhance that communication and intelligence in order for us to identify suspects and bring our suspects and offenders to justice.
01:01Detective Chief Inspector Steve Ball, who oversees the investigations, says the operation is crucial for reducing crime and addressing the trauma that burglary causes victims.
01:11A burglary is a very intrusive and devastating crime, certainly for the victims. We do work as hard as we can for our victims. The victims are at the forefront of everything we do. As I've said, that's the ethos of Merseyside Police.
01:24The force's strategy involves the expertise of numerous teams who work closely on operations in burglary hotspots, proactive targeting of known offenders and engagement with community partners to share intelligence and prevention advice.
01:40We offer crime prevention advice, which is there on our website, force's website for anyone to see. But we do go and visit our communities and we do offer our advice and we ask them.
01:49It's certainly in these nice days today, people that are gardening, making sure the sheds and outhouses are locked so we don't leave any tools lying around for opportunist burglars to use in order to get inside the premises.
02:01Again, we have our windows and doors open and nice weather like today. We just ensure that when we do leave our properties that our doors and windows are secure because, you know, we do know our opportunist burglars will, in any way, get in any insecure window and door to gain entrance.
02:15In the past year alone, 612 burglary suspects have been arrested. Most recently, the force's relentless pursuit of burglars has led to the successful conviction of four offenders with sentences given at Liverpool Crown Court, amounting to over 20 years between them.
02:31Well, first and foremost, if we can report it to the Murderside Police, whether that by crime stoppers or into our local police officers.
02:37But we've also, a couple of years ago, created what we call a CCTV portal and that allows our communities to send any snippets of anyone acting suspiciously or anyone in their gardens, etc.
02:49They can send it into the Murderside Police. It's quite easy to find on our force's website.
02:52And what happens is every time we get sent a snippet of CCTV from our community, we will review it and act upon it if needed.