A reduction in the number of residential burglaries in Hertfordshire over the past year has been welcomed by the Police & Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards.

The number of homes broken in to has reduced by four percent across the county and the police attended over 99 per cent of residential burglaries, the PCC has been told by the Chief Constable.

Mr Ash-Edwards was given the reassurance during the public Accountability and Performance meetings he introduced to allow him to scrutinise, in an open and transparent way, the performance of Hertfordshire Constabulary.

He put burglary on the agenda for the meeting which was broadcast live on the internet to public earlier this month, and can be watched back at herts-pcc.gov.uk/listening-and-responding.

Asking the Chief Constable Andy Prophet for an update on the Constabulary's plan to reduce burglary Mr Ash-Edwards said: "Burglary is one of the things that the public raise with me the most as an area of concern. It is fairly low in Hertfordshire, but it is a crime that really impacts people's sense of safety in in their own home."

Mr Prophet explained how Operation Guardian is a force-wide campaign designed to "reduce burglary, and arrest and lock up burglars."

He added: "There were 1,709 homes broken into in Hertfordshire between the 1st of April last year and the end of February this year. That is a small reduction on the same period the previous year of about four per cent. I take no comfort in that because it is 1,709 too many, if that includes your home. 

"Burglary is what I want officers want to be cracking down. I've asked the Constabulary to come up with a really clear plan around who are our core offenders, our prolific and most high risk and repeat offenders? We need to be in and under the skin of those people by using overt tactics in hotspots with patrols, and using covert tactics as well."

The Chief Constable gave some examples of recent successes against alleged burglars revealing one man from Cambridge being charged with five dwelling burglaries in Watford and Kings Langley. Another person from Stevenage was charged with three dwelling burglaries locally, and a third was charged with an aggravated burglary where a Rolex watch was stolen.

Following the meeting Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, said:

"Burglary is a horribly invasive crime, undermining people's absolute right to be safe in their own home. Tackling burglary is one of my top priorities as Police & Crime Commissioner. Over the last year, burglary has fallen by 4% compared to the previous year which is really welcome. One is still too many, but thanks to the vigilance of our communities and hard work of our police officers, we are making progress.

"I know that Hertfordshire residents want to see more burglars caught and more crimes solved, and progress is being made here too. Over the last year, the police attended 99% of reported residential burglaries in Hertfordshire. I will review the topic with the Chief Constable again later in the year to ensure continued progress is being made on burglary".

Some areas of the county have seen large reductions in burglary over the last year. Marshalswick South in St Albans saw burglary fall by 61 percent; Moor Park and Eastbury in Three Rivers registered a drop of 54 per cent, Bishop's Stortford Central by 68 per cent and Northaw and Cuffley in Welwyn Hatfield by 67 per cent.

The next Accountability and Performance Meeting is due to be held at 10.30am on May 15^th and residents are invited to watch by using this link https://bit.ly/APMMAY25.