POLICE CAMPAIGN REDUCES CITY BURGLARIES

A police operation launched to catch prolific burglars in Newport has been hailed a "complete success". Due to unusually high amounts of burglaries being committed in the city, a dedicated team including three detectives, a researcher and an analyst was set up under Operation Chase. Since the operation began six weeks ago, 181 house burglaries have been solved and six males aged between 14 and 30 from the Newport area have been arrested. Three have been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and the others charged with specific burglaries. Five have been remanded in custody until they appear in court.

Crime figures show that the recent arrests have significantly reduced the numbers of burglaries happening in the city. Since the beginning of the year, the amount of burglaries each week has ranged between 25 and 36 - but two weeks ago the number fell to 24 and last week the figure dropped further to 18. Officers now expect burglary figures to fall further now burglars they caught are behind bars.Detective Inspector Steve Webber, who led the operation, said:
"The team that was set up worked very hard to find additional witnesses to burglaries and to enhance forensic evidence to bring charges against suspected culprits. I'm confident that those responsible for the majority of burglaries in Newport over the last six months have been stopped. It was great to see the house burglary figures fall to 24 two weeks ago and then drop again to 18 last week. We now aim to keep this downward trend going by continuing to do the things that have made Operation Chase a complete success."