Just one in six Dundee housebreakers is brought to justice, new figures reveal.
Detection rates for attempted and actual housebreaking in the city are just 16.2% an almost 2% drop compared to the previous quarter.
The detection rate drop is thought to be related to a large number of thefts from outbuildings, with thefts from residences at their lowest level in five years.
Figures reveal that between April 1 and June 30 just one housebreaking was detected in Broughty Ferry, despite 13 recorded incidents.
In the West End, there were 20 recorded incidents of housebreaking, with three of those detected by officers.
The East End had the lowest detection rate, with 7.1% of housebreakings being solved.
By far the most successful area was Maryfield, which had a detection rate of 35.3%, followed by the North East (27.3%).
The five-year average detection rate for Dundee is 25.1%.
The figures, revealed in a report for Tayside Division’s quarterly review, will go before councillors on Monday.
Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith, the author of the report, said: “Theft by housebreaking encompasses the successful and attempted forceful or unauthorised entry to a wide range of properties, including dwelling house, commercial premises, garden sheds and lock-ups.
“This reporting period has seen an increase in comparison to last year but this still represents a significant decrease in comparison to the five-year average.
“Theft by housebreaking involving exclusively dwelling houses has decreased to its lowest level in five years. This decrease is dramatic, with 182 incidents being recorded for this quarter in 2010/11, falling to 60 incidents recorded this year.
“In the coming months efforts will be made to achieve such successful reductions to incidents of housebreaking as a whole and to increase detection rates for all incidents.”
Chief Inspector Conrad Trickett praised the decrease in housebreakings, targeting dwellings, but said officers would continue to pursue those who commit these crimes.
He told The Courier: “We are employing Operation Rac. It has several strands.
“We try to encourage people not to leave high-value items in sheds and garages.
“We are continuing to improve our opportunities for detection (of these crimes) and are monitoring repeat offenders.
“If someone has just come out of prison for housebreaking, we will ensure that we visit them, see how they react around us, make sure we know where they live and if their description changes.”