Burglary continues to be one of the most pervasive crimes.
This is according to Inspector (Ag.), Roland Cobbler, as he stressed that the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) has been trying to tackle the number of burglaries which are occurring.
“We want to encourage homeowners to play their role in ensuring that the necessary measures are in place to enhance the security of their property,” he told The Barbados Advocate.
“Sometimes we notice that there is a lapse of security by homeowners, not properly securing windows and doors or leaving ladders on the outside – giving a burglar easy access to enter. We therefore want persons to do the necessary checks.”
The Public Relations Officer is therefore reminding Barbadians that the Residential Identification Programme is still being carried out by the Royal Barbados Police Force.
He explained that a burglar seldom steals valuable property for their own personal use, as the intention is to sell.
Inspector Cobbler believes that the Residential Identification Programme, which sees the marking of property, would make it more difficult for the burglar to sell and can help police and the property owners to positively identify items if found.
“It’s a service we still offer. We try to encourage persons to get their property marked as a means of effective crime prevention,” Inspector Cobbler pointed out.
Property such as televisions, computers, bicycles are often retrieved by police but because some may look alike and persons don’t take note of serial numbers, they are hard to identify.
“When the would-be burglar recognises that the property is marked they might not take it – it reduces the value to them and in some cases, they would not take that risk.
“We try to encourage Barbadians to embrace the service. Once you make the request, the community officers assigned to their area would make the arrangements to do the necessary marking of property,” he said. (TL)
Section: