Two young sisters who live with their parents were left startled and horrified after the harrowing experience of being in their house whilst it was being broken into by unknown burglars. This shocking incidence followed the breaking news of the significant rise in burglaries and break-ins in the Suburban village of Cheam.

As you can see from the yearly averages presented on the graph above in Cheam, recently Burglary and Robbery have been at one of their highest points in the last nine years. Specifically, in the last two months the Cheam ward has had fifteen burglaries, three attempted burglaries, fifteen thefts from motor vehicles and three thefts of motor vehicles, but it doesn’t stop there as surrounding wards too have high statistics relating to theft and robbery such as the Belmont Ward with seventeen burglaries, fifteen thefts from motor vehicles and three thefts of motor vehicles.

After gathering this information from local reliable sources as well as from UKCrimeStats.com, I tried to get in contact with the two young sisters who had found themselves in the all too common predicament of burglary in Cheam. However, after being unable to set up an interview with them directly, I was able to get an interview with one of their neighbours that was happy to share his opinion on the prevalence of burglary, break-ins and robbery in Cheam.

The first question I asked the neighbour (who will stay anonymous) was if and how the increase in burglaries had affected the anxieties and worries he felt around protecting his family and home. He replied saying “I do have anxieties, but it’s more anxieties about if my children are safe at home by themselves, then my anxieties will increase. However, it’s not just burglaries that worry me, it’s even just minor thefts and invasions of privacy like people getting into your properties and stealing things from your car.” He continued by expressing that “We have CCTV everywhere and you can see people jumping over gates and fences and getting into the grounds of properties even if its not in your house, they’re still trying to see what they can steal around and about your house and it’s scary.” This answer shows that even with things like CCTV or gates and alarms protecting your house, burglars can still very easily enter your property and it’s terrifying for the owners to know that someone has been on their estate and tried or succeeded in taking what belongs to them. 

After he finished addressing my first question, I then moved onto the second question which I directed towards his thoughts and opinions on the police in this area and if they’ve been taking the right actions towards lowering the burglary epidemic. He shared that he thought “the police are doing all they can especially due to the significantly condensed resources they have been given like the reduction in number of policemen in certain areas. They obviously aren’t able to do everything the residents would like of them, but they’ve managed to do a few helpful things here and there in a very difficult situation like make their presence more known to everyone that lives in these areas by driving up and down the roads. I also feel like it’s harder for the police to protect Cheam because it’s an affluent area and people are taking chances with crime to see what they can take and when they can take it.” This response shows how the local police, although unable to do everything that the residents want from them, but are taking important and necessary actions to get Cheam on the right path to becoming a safer area to live in.

I then moved my questions from the police to the inhabitants and asked him if he thought there was anything the residents could do to make their homes more protected and safer from the prying eyes of robbers and burglars. He said “I think you always have to be very aware when leaving your house. You always have to make sure your house is locked, the alarm is on, the windows are locked, the lights are on when you leave to scare away any intruders. It’s always important to be vigilant, in order to protect yourself and to reduce the risk of your house getting burgled.” Here he is saying that being vigilant is the only way to truly feel like your house is safe when you are away as it stops you from overthinking about people breaking in and stealing your valuables and belongings.

When I had finished asking my questions, he quickly added that he thought “it would be wonderful if there was a bigger police presence in the area to act as a deterrence, but at the moment that doesn’t seem possible.” From this interview, it is clear to see that residents of the Cheam village seem to be becoming more aware of the increasing crime rate due to the breaking news of burglary in the area and are deciding to become more vigilant with their homes and their belongings by locking doors, closing windows, getting an alarm or CCTV, et cetera…