A crackdown on burglars has cut break-ins in Belfast by 25%, say police — thanks to officers being freed up by a relatively peaceful marching season.
Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland, the officer in charge of Belfast, says the lack of violence around parades allowed him to switch officers to a task force targeting burglars.
He said Operation Heartbreak has seen 109 arrests — including 38 in one week in August — led to 164 charges and cut burglaries by a quarter in two months.
People have been arrested for burglary, car crime, breach of bail and possession of drugs.
Police issued photographs yesterday of eight men they want to speak to in connection with the crackdown.
“It was called Operation Heartbreak because I wanted to break the hearts of persistent offenders,” said Mr McCausland. “I make no apology for that because they've been breaking the hearts of the public for years.”
The assistant chief constable added: “Heartbreak has involved specialist officers patrolling hot spot areas to disrupt activity and also a number of arrest operations.”
He said the operation had targeted burglaries across greater Belfast and featured detectives from all parts of the region.
Mr McCausland said the number of officers involved in the operation changed daily.
When they made 38 arrests in one week last month, more than 40 officers who would have otherwise been involved in policing parades were used in the round up.
“Because we had a relatively peaceful marching season, we were able to relocate some of the resources to this kind of anti-crime operation,” Mr McCausland said.
“Officers were diverted from public order duties because we had a reasonably successful marching season.
“We've said this for many years — if we didn't have these public order offences we'd be able to use the resources against other kinds of crime.”
The police chief said the operation will be assessed in the next few days and could be rolled out to other parts of Northern Ireland.
Belfast Telegraph