Villagers on alert after burglaries and car thefts

RESIDENTS are asked to remain vigilant after a number of burglaries and theft of motor vehicles in Greenfield.

Home-owners are also urged to review their safeguarding measures to help prevent offences occurring.

And Greater Manchester Police’s highest ranking officer has reaffirmed the force’s commitment to catching the criminals.

Greenfield Neighbourhood Crimewatch Group has highlighted several incidents where offenders have gained entry to properties for car keys before stealing vehicles. All break-ins have occurred in the early hours of the morning.

GMP say incidents are not restricted to Greenfield or Saddleworth but “have been a theme across the Oldham District.

“A number of the offences have occurred whereby properties are being left unlocked and insecure making it easy for offenders to sneak in and steal keys.

“It is a case of urging people to report suspicious circumstances via the online reporting system or 101 which helps provide an intelligence picture and direct patrols to locations before offences occur.

“Where able, teams are patrolling areas that have been targeted and have made contact with victims to offer reassurance.”

Tips to increase security include: lock windows and doors, set alarms, keep valuables such as laptops, phones and car keys out of sight, the latter preferably in a faraday pouch or metal tin the vehicle is keyless. CCTV and video doorbells can help.

GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson QPM, says: “We all have an absolute right to the sanctity of our own homes and to expect others to respect what should be an invisible space.

“When our homes are breached by despicable criminals, we, the police, are duty bound to do all that we can to respond effectively and to pursue justice on behalf of victims.

“Over recent years, crimes such as burglary have too often come to be referred to as “low level” crime, something people should probably just learn to live with, that a busy police force like ours – for reasons real or imagined – simply couldn’t (or shouldn’t) manage to attend whenever a burglary occurred.

“These are comments and sentiments that you will no longer hear within Greater Manchester Police.

“Fundamentally, policing remains a simple business. We are here to take the fight to the criminals, to keep people and their families safe from those who would do them harm, and to work with others to solve problems in our communities in a way which either prevents harm or offending altogether or, at the very least, reduces the incidence of the same.

“I reject the assertion that we cannot attend all reports of domestic burglary and it is why, in July 2021, I publicly committed to residents of Greater Manchester that their police force would respond to each and every report we receive.

“Minimum response involves the physical attendance of a police officer and, as appropriate, might additionally involve visits from forensic crime scene investigators and specialist detective officers.

“This is a commitment to all so it doesn’t matter what your economic status is or which district you live in; there will be no ‘postcode lottery’ here.