Marker system pilot sees burglaries and thefts fall

A NEW system which stamps homeowners’ Eircodes on to their possessions has resulted in a dramatic drop in burglaries and thefts in areas where it has been piloted by gardaí.

Now officers are planning to extend the scheme, while the PSNI is also looking at introducing it in Northern Ireland.

The two police forces are working together to combat a cross-Border gang believed to be responsible for a spate of thefts of Toyota Land Cruisers since the start of the year.

Officers say some of the organisers are based in south Armagh but the criminal gang has a network operating on both sides of the Border, to carry out the thefts and dispose of the stolen goods.

Gardaí in Co Meath are investigating the theft of 15 Land Cruisers in their division since June, while others have been stolen in the Border counties in both jurisdictions.

The gang have been focusing on Land Cruisers in particular, because of a huge demand for parts on the black market.

The vehicles are being stolen and then stored in garages and sheds to establish if tracker devices have been fitted to them.

The thieves wait for several days and then send off the vehicles to be broken down for parts. The gang usually disposes of the parts in the North if the vehicles have been stolen here, and vice versa, according to officers.

In several robberies, the gangs have broken the lock on the door of a house or cut a hole in a window to gain access to the keys to the vehicle.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has backed up gardaí in their appeal to farmers and rural dwellers to be more careful about where they leave their keys, to lock up their vehicles every night, and to close all farm and house gates, while using CCTV as a further deterrent.

Farmers have also been asked to report any suspicious movements around garages or sheds where the stolen vehicles might be stored.

The new property marking initiative, using Eircodes on a stamp, was introduced in the Carrickmacross and Monaghan Garda districts in June last year in an effort to counter the theft of farmyard tools and garden equipment.

The initiative resulted in a massive drop in thefts and burglaries in those districts during the pilot period, compared to elsewhere in the Cavan-Monaghan division.

Other Garda districts are now examining the pilot scheme, while PSNI officers have travelled across the Border for demonstrations and are planning to use it in the North.

In the past, the failure of owners to properly mark their goods has meant the vast majority of stolen property recovered by the gardaí could not be returned to owners because of the lack of definite identification.

Measures to tackle burglaries and thefts have been raised by gardaí with local representatives and community leaders at a series of joint policing committees (JPCs) around the country in recent months.

The JPC in Monaghan gave its full support to gardaí after being briefed by Det Supt Alan Cunningham and other local officers.

At a meeting of the Mayo joint policing committee in Ballina last week, the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, Det Chief Supt Pat Clavin, set out how the agency supported crime reduction initiatives including the seizure of assets belonging to suspected members of roving burglary and theft gangs.

Gang has a network on both sides of Border