Public urged to batten hatches as burglaries surge
(CNS): Over the last two weeks 22 homes and seven commercial premises have been broken into and burglars have also tried to get into another five properties. Many of the home break-ins were committed during broad daylight, police said, as they urged the public to lock their doors and windows in the face of another crime wave. Despite their increase in patrols and a significant number of arrests, police are struggling with a continued increase in burglaries, especially at poorly secured premises.
“Burglars are regularly entering through insecure doors and windows while people are at work,” said Superintendent Mike Cranswick, Head of the Criminal Investigations Department. “I encourage residents to examine their exterior doors and ensure that locks cannot be easily tampered with. There are a number of simple security measures and devices that can make your home more secure and provide you with peace of mind. These range from door wedges and window locks to contact alarms.”
Cranswick acknowledged that there are no fool proof protections against determined criminals but he said people can do more to protect their homes from the burglars.
“While it is likely impossible to make your property 100% burglar-proof, there are some basic things that property owners can do to make it difficult or deter potential burglars from gaining access their homes,” the senior cop urged. “Neighbours can also help each other by being vigilant and report unusual or suspicious occurrences in their neighbourhood or on their neighbour’s property.”
But the main problem for the police is the revolving prison door at HMP Northward and the recidivism when it comes to burglary in particular.
“We continue to target repeat offenders and arrest those committing burglaries, but we need our citizens and residents to be vigilant and take steps to ensure that their homes and property are not vulnerable to burglars,” Cranswick added.
Home electronics, especially laptops and iPads, have been the most commonly stolen items but police said that several victims have reported that jewellery and cash are also frequently taken. It also appears that burglars have begun using cleaning agents or bleach to remove their fingerprints.
The RCIPS says it has stepped up its efforts to prevent and investigate burglaries, with increased police patrols in all districts. Officers have made 75 arrests already this year, compared to 66 during the same time period last year.
However, the police need the help of the community in tracking down the criminals and the public is asked to report people going door-to-door, asking unusual questions or asking about past or fictitious residents, or if they see someone knocking on doors or peeping through house or car windows, or running from a car or from a home, as well as unexpected vehicles parked or waiting around the neighbourhood.
Police also asked the community to be vigilant about people on their property or that of their neighbours or loitering nearby, and report people dressed in hoodies in middle of the day. The police are asking people to report if they hear anything unusual, such as breaking glass or pounding sounds or see people removing items from homes or closed businesses. Residents are also urged to employ only trusted people or companies to do work on their property, not to leave windows open or unlocked while out or keep large amounts of cash at home. Police also told the public to record their property and mark it as well s make a note of serial numbers of electronic items and photograph expensive jewellery.
Concerned members of the public can contact the police to have a neighbourhood officers visit their homes and advise on home security and crime prevention tips.
To contact the police call a district police station:
George Town: 949-4222
West Bay: 949-3999
Eastern District: 947-2220
Little Cayman and Cayman Brac: 948-0331
or the Burglary Team at the Criminal Investigations Department on 244-3035 or mobile 324-0683
One thing I learned living in California, do no leave them living or they can sue you. If you break into my house I can assure you, you will leave in a body bag.
I second that! You come into my home and it’s gonna be on! These people are out of control!
I feel sorry for anyone who would go through the effort to break into my house and at best get $5 in change and a POS 10 year old TV.
I have cameras, alarms, web motion detectors, and a dog! I also have an extra car (for visiting house-guests) and I make sure I moved it every few days to a new spot on my driveway or street so the bad guys think someone is home. It is getting harder to stay one step ahead of the bad guys!
Now I work from home some mornings and leave kids toys outside so the thieves think twice (might be a child home with a nanny?) After last week’s bold home invasion with children home, my fears are escalating!
We need the pool cleaners, gardeners, and maintenance men to be our new eyes and ears. Offer rewards for leads and eyewitness reports.
Immigration enforcement really needs to run a sting operation too. If these are homegrown criminals then lets weed out the visiting opportunists.- Round up the lay-abouts, enforce ID cards, and prosecute anyone holding a fake work permit for a worker.
The public need to know which areas are being targeted.This would be much more helpful than telling us to lock our doors!.
the are hundreds of people here on work permits hustling ……………….. some one holds their permits but they have no work …………………… wonder who has time to rob houses during the day……………….
Secure residential compounds are a necessity to protect high end offshore workers.
Don’t they leave fingerprints? I bet theirs are in the RCIPS” system. Secondly, install hidden cameras that are connected to your Iphone or computer. The second they break into your property you will know, you can even tell them that they are being watched.
I remember a case when an owner of a home went to work over seas for a few years. His home was under security company surveillance. Then 2 of the security company workers disappeared. Long story short, they got into his house feeling at home, they even drunk a wine they found. The wine had poison in it, that killed them fast. The owner was acquitted.
Good idea – lace a bottle. When I was broken into they stole everything including the food from the freezer and all my liquor
You’ll soon have people sitting down beside there front door with a loaded shotgun waiting to greet uninvited guests.
Ahh, the Cayman Islands! The third most expensive place to live in the world. Where corruption is rampant and burglaries and home invasions are the norm. Where there is a stabbing or shooting every other week. Where the police appear useless, security cameras are a dismal failure and the Crown prosecutors can’t seem to make a court-case stick.
A place where politicians are too busy serving their own interests and interfering with business contracts resulting in law-suits that end up costing the country millions of dollars. Where the elected officials are double-paying themselves through pension loop-holes, as the level of Caymanian unemployment sky-rockets. Where the former premier can gamble with hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public purse using government credit cards; but hey there was no written policy at the time, so no crime, never-mind the ethics of it all. A place where former education chief officers can edit evaluation reports in order to try and mask the ongoing glaring incompetence of our education system.
A place where one billion dollars can go missing from the government’s coffers and it’s just another day in paradise. Where high society bury their heads in the sand attending pompous and irrelevant cocktail parties, or as they prefer to call them “fundraising galas”, that sell raffle tickets in order to win large sums of money (which is basically gambling and against Cayman laws), but it’s “for a good cause”. A place where the proclamation of empty-gestures receive the greatest of accolades (YCLA) by the hangers-on of the status-quo, those who choose to sit idly by as the islands’ social structure crumbles all around us at lightning speed.
Welcome to CaymanKind. Try not to get shot, stabbed, robbed, run-over by a hit and run driver or “black-listed” by politicians.
Hold tight, because if we keep voting in the same people that have made this country the complete mess that it is today, prepare for it to get much worse.
Yes someone with sense on this website! Preach it!!!!!! Yassssss hunnie Yasss!
Hold Tight, certainly Alden and his merry band would consider your comments treasonous based upon their reaction to a Compass editorial but the truth hurts. Your comments were on par with that editorial and I agree with both.
I have been broken into numerous times.
Once when I was off island I was called by a member of the RCIP after a break in. He wanted me to tell him what was stolen.
The MLAs wander around and love to talk on the radio and sound important but ignore the corruption and financial mismanagement of the government. Any normal person would be ashamed to show their face after hearing some of the auditor general’s reports. I’m surprised the PPM haven’t labeled his reports as treasonous.
One could not have made a better summary! Thank you “hold tight”. Very refreshing, especially after reading “17 reasons why people in Cayman are the happiest people on the planet” where your “reality” comments are deleted.
Maybe the best post on CNS EVER. But I am sure you will get lots of thumbs down from the “heads in the sand” people. Especially liked the high society irrelevant cocktail function twist. Truer words never spoken.
What about the random commercial fishing boats docked up on residential land? Get this crap stopped now as its getting worse all the time. People showering outside, porta loos, rubbish everywhere. Its not rocket science, just stop them doing it!
No commercial fishing boats on residential land, end of story.
That right batten your hatches cause we are on a sinking ship, first statement the RCIPS has issued is so true!!!
Hear hear!! Ya politicians want to DO something?? Make some NEW laws to get these migrant fishing boats out of my residential canal neighborhood. The DOE can’t help unless we SEE the fishermen peeing off the dock, Immigration can’t help as these migrant workers do NOT need work permits under some 100 year old maritime law, and the only thing we can do is watch our property values fall or take a neighbor to civil court over restrictive covenants???
As a British territory, our cops (if not Caymanians) should be from the UK. Not from other regions where crime is the culture and glorified.
The interesting reality is the UK is also a region “where crime is the culture and glorified”. However you are forgiven for your ignorance as they have a stellar spin-and-hide machine over there.
*Sit in any day on Preston Crown Court proceedings and you’ll clearly see what I’m talking about.
In any event, our British cops come with their own personal agenda as well – and believe you me, protecting the lives of BOTC’s is not high on that list.
*Let us be fair and balanced as we address the issues of the RCIPS.
We hire cops from the poorest nations in the Caribbean, and expect them to come here and give a damn?!!! Police in other territories in our area make an equivalent of US$1200 per month. Here it is US$3800, starting salary!!!
Go to CITN and look up an archive story they did about the amount of police in Jamaica that applied for the few openings here in Cayman, over 1400!!!! Was it to come here and fight crime, to protect the good citizens of Cayman?!!Only a fool would believe so.
As a Jamaican, I have to agree with your comments. The reason my family left Jamaica decades ago, was to escape the free fall into what it is now. The fact is, Cayman is, for the moment, far safer than Jamaica, and every cop in Jamaica would love to get here, to make a hell of a lot more money, at no real risk.
Cayman is a cash cow for many who seek refuge from poorer countries.
Invest in your local burglar bar company. The shares are going to skyrocket.
Dogs are one of the best deterrents against burglaries. I have a Rottweiler but basically any dog works. Also, the judicial system needs to be more strict about sentences to burglars. 12 months in jail is worth the risk when you can potentially steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash/jewelry. Hence why the repeat offense rate with burglaries is so high. Slap a 5 year minimum sentence of them from the get go.
I hope you don’t tie your Rottweiler up all day and all night and never walk it on a leash as so many dog owners do. I am always amazed at how many crapped out houses with junk and trash lying around in the yard I see with barking dogs cruelly tied up to protect properties that even Environmental Health wouldn’t want to enter.
I live in an apartment with no yard. My dog is walked twice a day and never tied up.
Harsh sentences are not a deterrent if the probability of getting caught is almost nil.
Increasing the probability of getting caught is the key.
This is difficult in a small community where the people are fearful of ratting out the bad ‘uns.
I trust you did the right thing and reported this theft to the company and to authorities………..if not, you are as bad as the thief!
There is more than one way to skin a cat, the uniform patrols are clearly struggling they need better supervision and to be tasked on there patrols. On downtime they should be directed to patrol burglary hotspots. Every suspicious vehicle driver passenger should be stopped and questioned. Theses scum need cars to take away property so every car with obscured licence plate gets stopped and ticketed no insurance take the keys until you produce some. Known suspects knock on there doors tell them the police are watching suspected burglars. But residents also have a part to play everyone should have window restrictors on the ground floor if you can’t afford custom made ones a six inch screw will restrict window opening when out and a piece of 2 x 2 placed on your sliding patio will stop them being opened without smashing the glass. Crime prevention goes hand in hand with crime detection. The days of leaving your door unlocked are well gone….
Need to have competent people in the DPP, first of all.
More secure gated communities need to be built as a matter of urgency.
And then the divide between the rich and poor (aka desperate) becomes even wider.
3rd world here we come.
Third world is where your already at.
So? The poor don’t have anything to be stolen.
And you think the gates will stop the inside jobs between workers on properties?
Will gates top them from coming from the canals?
We have brought in poverty & criminals, we’ve let the Caymanians become poorer and less educated so this is what you all have built in the name of greed
In other words the police here are non functional so if you want to not get robbed its up to you. If you want the robbers caught its up to you. If you want them to go to a real prison its not going to happen. Just part of living on an island run by fools.
They say they have stepped up their patrols, what a joke, i can drive from town to west bay, the back from west bay to Cayman Kai, and you know what I haven’t seen not one patrol car, this is a norm…let alone late at night forget about it
Speaking from the perspective of a victim, the trauma and violation you feel is only worsen when the police fail to do their jobs. If you take my statement and collect partial evidence with the promise of coming back, I should not be the one to be chasing and calling you the one in authority to get all evidence collected and to let know what is taking place or if anything is even taking place.
I know police can’t be at the scene in anticipation of every crime being committed but at least be on the ball once I have been terrorized. Give the prosecution solid evidence without gaps so that the criminals don’t run circles around you.
The criminals always seem to be a step ahead but I really believe it is because investigators leave too many gaps and loop holes so they worm their way out laughing and guess what…then they re-offend and the cycle continues.
…..because it’s all about the drugs, no problem…..
What good is it when the police comes out and takes a statement and you never as much as get a follow up phone call?
“Residents are also urged to employ only trusted people or companies to do work on their property…”
Just because you trust someone to work on your property does not make them trusted. Just saying…
This is (yet again) so sad. I have been broken into twice. Both times my home was secure. Once a side window was completely smashed. The other time they broke the lock completely off the front door. It is so difficult to do the reporting every time you see a ‘suspicious vehicle’ as there are constantly landscapers and construction vehicles around. Many of the construction vehicles are unmarked… this should be illegal. All legit companies should be required by law to have clear and proper signage on vehicles. Then when one sees a plain white van it can be deemed ‘suspicious’. Also some of the neighbours have helpers and it seems every time they are dropped off or picked up it is in a different vehicle.
By this measure..should I paint my name on our white car with an address & phone number? Should our Jamaican helper be prohibited from entering the street in an unknown vehicle without signage? CUC , LIME and the RCIPS have both white & other colour vehicles without an identifying logo or sign . What should I do ?
“report people dressed in hoodies in middle of the day” isnt that how trayvon martin ended up getting murdered…..just saying
He tried to impress the girl he was with by attacking the guy following them. He was then killed in self defense, not murdered. The guy was wrong for following them, but was found innocent in a court of law for the killing, as he acted in self defense.
If you stalk and follow me for an extended period of time you can rest assured I will “attack” you, my friend.
(E.g. I have no intention to join the 9 SC victims of American racism – may the rest in peace.)
Young Black men, excuse me, BOYS, in America have a natural right to feel fear and threatened just like every other group.
Trayvon was failed by his society and justice system in many ways. Then again, from it’s inception to present day, said system was never designed for the benefit of the likes of a Trayvon Martin.
*Lastly, the true THUG, albeit sans hoodie and dark skin, has been proven to be George Zimmerman …as evidenced by his never ending arrests and run-ins with the law since his cowardly killing of a teenager.
– Whodatis
Actually very disappointed over the lack of a single reply. Nothing but thumbs downs.
Oh well. Says a lot really.
Perhaps you meant I.e., “that is to say”, not E.g. “for example”?
Don’t need your help buddy, but thanks for the offer.
Now, do you wish to address the actual issue at hand or are you only here to talk sh*t?
Really guy, really??
My god you are an idiot.
You live like a thug then you accpt the risk to die like a thug. If you want to play like a gangsta that is your choice. If you are my kid or kin you would be more scared of us than them.
I don’t know about you, but I was once 17 years old.
Trayvon was walking home from the store when a creepy, older man (George Zimmerman) started watching, following and stalking him in his car.
This man was not a cop and did not identify himself as a member of any authority – as he had none.
Judging by the facts, Trayvon tried to evade the creepy, weird, older man but said creepy man took it upon himself to park and exit his vehicle and pursue 17 year old Trayvon on foot – while armed with a gun … even after being instructed by the police to not do so.
At this point in the facts of the case, no fair and reasonable person would describe or consider the forthcoming confrontation as “thug behaviour” on the part of the 17 year old boy. What we can be sure of is that Trayvon Martin was very scared at this point – rightfully so.
(However, it is amazing how the skin color and race of the individuals in question can flip the processing of the mind in western society.)
George Zimmerman simply bit off more than he could chew that day as Trayvon was a scared 17 year old that only knew some (possibly armed) 30 year old man was following him. Anything thereafter is self-defence. (What if Trayvon was a 17 year old blonde, blue-eyed girl?)
We can only assume that a physical confrontation took place, Trayvon got the better of George, and George being the weak coward that he is, drew his weapon and shot dead the 17 year old kid that he had absolutely no legal right to stalk, follow and pursue on foot … while armed.
Nevertheless, despite all of the above, the state opted to charge Zimmerman with MURDER (the phone call to 911 prior to the confrontation would be enough for any capable and unbiased prosecutor to realise murder was the wrong charge) and he was found not guilty.
The Trayvon Martin case speaks volumes about the state of race, fear, rights, justice and privilege in the United States of America today. One point that was proven is that it is justified to kill Black males so long as one claims he was “in fear of his life” – even when the fearful brought about the circumstances himself.
I know none of this will mean a thing to you, but I am putting it out there anyway. I too have experienced the life of a young Black male in a predominantly White society (London, UK) of which its people and police assume you to be a threat and act accordingly (9 times more likely to be stopped and searched when compared to Whites … and don’t I know it). Never once been arrested or charged with anything after those many stops. My white university colleagues were not forced to endure such treatment despite many of them being the biggest weed and coke consumers in the history of mankind.
P.S. Good luck with your hero George Zimmerman … by the way, is he still being arrested for assaulting his girlfriend?
– youknowWho
Yep.
This is your wonderful white western world (albeit slipping out of grasp) – so you have all right, within that context, to say the things and feel the way you do about the case.
Regardless, I’m sure you’re also the type of individual that points to Oprah and Barack as proof of a post-racial society and believe those that disagree should take the chip off their shoulder.
And the band plays on … kudos!
– youknowWho
There is no need to own a hoodie, let alone wear it in the middle of the day, when someone lives in Cayman. People behaving that way are entitled to be treated with suspicion…just saying.
Always be prepared if you are at home. Do not be distracted or nervous. Do a good job always.
Yes Joe Public, you all “batten down” because its about to get a whole lot worse.