‘tis the season … to welcome Christmas Holiday guests, and be mindful of unwanted visitors

Liberal Democrat Candidate for Guildford, Zöe Franklin, shares figures showing December break-ins, including burglaries on Christmas Day

Freedom of Information Act requests from the Liberal Democrats to Surrey Police found over the last three years, there were a total of 12,001 burglaries throughout December 2019, '20 and '21, including 16 break ins on Christmas Day itself.

• of the 12,001 December burglaries, 10,076 went unsolved
• of the 16 Christmas Day break ins, 15 remain unsolved

Zöe and the local Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to community policing in Guildford, including having more police officers on the beat.

Zöe Franklin "We need community policing, not more cuts"

"Burglary is an awful crime which can have a lasting emotional impact on victims. Insurance can help replace some things, but nothing can replace items of sentimental value, or fix the feeling that what's supposed to be our safe space has been violated.

"I would like to thank Chief Constable Gavin Stephens and his officers and staff for all they are doing for us. But as Mr Stephens himself has said, he's having to make nearly £17 million of savings over a four year period and said "there is no easy place to look'.

"The Surrey force has the lowest amount of Government funding per head of population. I want to see a return to community policing in our area, where people see officers on the street and have a strong relationship with the local police. We need more officers on the beat, not more cuts."

Further Information:

The below request was sent to all police forces in England and Wales:

Under the Freedom of Information Act, please can I ask the following information on burglaries committed during December in the past five calendar years (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017).

How many burglaries were reported to your force in December in each of the past five calendar years (2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017).?

Of these, how many were committed on the 25th December?

Of the burglaries reported in December, how many were subsequently closed without a suspect being identified? Please could you provide this information broken down by calendar year.

Full results can be found here: Christmas Burglaries