Caravan burglaries: working together to reduce the risk

With the summer season fully underway, today we are focusing on caravan burglaries.

Burglaries on the coast are down 28% for July this year when compared with July 2022, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Summertime Policing Plan and Operation Songlark. This operation, led by the local Neighbourhood Policing Team and supported by both specialist investigation and proactive teams, aims to trace offenders swiftly, recover stolen property and bring offenders to justice. The team are continuing high-visibility engagements and patrols in the area of caravan parks during the season, and working with caravan site owners through Caravan Park Watch to provide crime prevention advice to all our visitors.

Offences so far this season are down and we want to make sure that trend continues. Chief Inspecter for East Lindsey Lee St Quinton said, “To have your caravan burgled is invasive and upsetting, potentially ruining your holiday. In showing what we are doing through our burglary campaign and our Summertime Policing Plan – increasing patrols, working with caravan site owners and engaging with visitors – we want to inspire communities to look out for each other, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable, and report any suspicious activity. We want to make sure you are equipped with crime prevention advice and know the simple steps to reducing your risk.

“Open doors and windows leave homes and caravans vulnerable to opportunistic burglaries; you can mitigate the risk by locking up and not leaving anything on show like jewellery, wallets, handbags, cash and bank cards.”

Councillor Graham Marsh, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Community Safety at East Lindsey District Council, added: “Operation Songlark and the Summertime Policing Plan is a bright example of how partnership working and collaboration between agencies can make a huge difference in the safety of our seaside towns and our visitors.

“We are always proud to work closely with the police to ensure a safe environment for our residents and visitors.”

Chief Insp St Quinton explained that technology and innovative methods were being explored to tackle burglary, "We are making the most of what’s in our toolkit, using our UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle), which means we can get around caravan sites a lot quicker. We are also using drone technology and covert methods to track down and trace suspects."

Our campaign, “beating burglary together” launched in June. Since the launch of the campaign we have been providing an insight into what we do, demonstrating this is a priority area for us, showing our commitment to protecting communities and bringing perpetrators to justice. Part of the drive of the campaign is to keep people informed about hotspots, tends and risks. Whilst the news on the coast is good so far this year, we know that caravans can be vulnerable to burglary.  

Chief Inspector St Quinton added, “We have a lovely coast and of course this brings an influx of visitors. We want to keep them and our residents safe by taking every opportunity to share our crime reduction recommendations. Also, we don’t want to be thinking about the end of the season right now, but we do want people to think ahead about security when leaving their caravans at the end of summer. If you take valuables with you, you remove that incentive for a burglar to target your caravan.”

Our proactive and dedicated work continues, with two men arrested over the last week in connection with a series of caravan burglaries. 

Crime reduction recommendations

• Lock and secure windows when leaving your caravan unattended.
• Lock all doors when leaving the caravan unoccupied, even for short periods, to prevent sneak in burglars.
• Leave a light on to make your caravan look occupied when out and about after dusk.
• Ensure your valuables are not visible from windows – these will tempt opportunist thieves to break in.
• Fit an intruder alarm to alert other residents or site staff of a potential break in.
• Security mark your possessions and register on www.immobilise.com. We can locate the rightful owner if your possessions are recovered at later date.
• Display the deterrent sticker to advise that your possessions are security marked.
• Always preserve the scene of a burglary so we can obtain any possible forensic evidence.

For further information

In June, we launched our Beating Burglary Together campaign which set out our commitment to raise awareness of where incidents are happening and to provide crime prevention and security advice. The issue of burglaries of caravans is a specific target for this campaign.

The burglary campaign runs alongside our Summertime Policing Plan which sets out our high visibility engagement, and our work with caravan park owners under Operation Songlark. 

If you are a Caravan Site Owner or work within the caravan sector and would like to join the Caravan Park Watch scheme, please contact the Caravan Site Licensing Team for more information via email at [email protected] or by telephone on 01507 613551.