Gardaí in warning over spate of burglaries in Gort

GARDAÍ in Gort are reminding people to be extra vigilant after a number of burglaries in the district spiked in recent weeks. There have been 21 burglaries in the area in the past six weeks and Superintendent Seán Healy is asking people to be more security conscious.

“In this district we have a very good preventative strategy in terms of patrols and strategic checkpoints. This had seemed to curtail criminal activities in the area up until August and our burglary rate was down maybe 30 or 40%, which was a very good result.
“Unfortunately, in the past number of weeks because of the proliferation of criminal activity and the number of gangs involved, we have had 21 burglaries in the last month and a half.
“We have a good detection rate but I’d rather prevent burglaries than put resources into detecting them and it spares people the disruption and upset of being burgled,” he told The Clare Champion. 
“Local people know their local environment and they know when something is off or out of place. I cannot emphasise the benefits of taking down a car number. They don’t have to ring the gardaí but if they then find out a burglary has taken place they can contact us and it is hugely helpful in an investigation,” he added.
The superintendent added that there was a notable increase in the number of daytime residential burglaries in the district and across the county and that investigations and intelligence had identified a number of Dublin-based gangs. 
“It is Garda Community Safety Week and we are reminding people to make sure their homes are secure. We are also asking people to call on elderly people to give them the comfort of knowing that there are people keeping an eye on them,” he concluded.