A domestic burglary violates the protection of one’s home

Burglaries are regrettably common these days, and are committed all year round. The police always investigates burglaries as aggravated theft.

Burglaries are typically committed by Finnish criminals. Professional burglaries conducted by foreign criminal groups have become increasingly common over the last few years.

A crowbar held with two hands prising apart a window frame.

Most burglaries occur on Fridays

According to the police’s statistics, the risk and likelihood of burglary is at its greatest on Fridays between 12 and 3 p.m. Even though most burglaries happen in the daytime, the burglar struck during the night in one case out of four, even when the residents were at home.

Burglars often watch houses to determine when the residents are away getting groceries, at work or on holiday.

Burglars prefer inner courts and sheltered places

Burglaries occur in houses, row houses and apartment buildings alike. Most burglaries are committed in sheltered places that are easy to enter. The perpetrators often enter the apartment through an inner court.

Criminals usually don’t steal large objects from the apartments, but rather look for jewellery, money, phones and IT technology, such as tablet computers.

Citizen vigilance helps to solve crimes

A large part of perpetrators are not caught, at least not right away. The police compiles crimes into series, and the perpetrators may get caught later through new offences in Finland or through international police cooperation.

Citizen vigilance and notifying the police about offences support the investigation of burglaries.
Keep your eyes open and pay attention to suspicious people!
Criminals may attract attention by watching suitable sites.
If a crime seems possible or likely, call the Emergency Response Centre at 112.
If the situation is not an emergency, you can send the police a tip on the internet.

Support for victims of crime from Victim Support Finland

A domestic burglary always violates the protection and privacy of one’s home. The victim may be in need of support. Victim Support Finland supports the victims of crime and their family members as well as criminal case witnesses.

The Police can request permission from the victims of crimes for permission to distribute their knowledge to interests needing assistance. Everyone who needs help can boldly get in touch on a personal level, of course.

Watch the Police video on protecting your home against domestic burglaries on Youtube (in Finnish)

You can only watch the embedded video if you have accepted the cookies of the website. You can change your cookie settings on the page Information about the website using the button Change cookie settings at the bottom of the page. If you prefer not to accept the cookies, you can watch the video on Poliisitube (Youtube).

Victim Support Finland's website

Tip the police about a burglary - tip line information on the police’s website

A summer cottage burglary may only be revealed at the beginning of the holiday season

Burglaries are a nuisance for summer cottage owners and tricky to investigate for the police.

Often summer cottage burglaries committed in the winter are not discovered until the beginning of the next summer cottage season in the spring. The time of the offence is often unknown to the owners.

Naturally, the highest numbers of cottage burglaries occur in regions with many cottages.

Any single active perpetrator or team can have a significant influence on the statistics in any given region. Many burglaries involve also making a mess and causing destruction. Holiday home burglaries are by and large committed by the same people who commit house burglaries.

Help the police - keep your property’s identification information

The items stolen from summer cottages are generally utility items such as tools and work machinery, vehicles such as mopeds or quadcycles, and trailers needed for transporting the above. Any items that are easy to convert into cash will do for thieves. Unfortunately, owners often are unable to describe the stolen goods to the police in any detail.

Keep valuable property’s identification information, such as the serial number and details to identify the object.
A picture can help the police recognise property!
The property may remain in the suspect’s possession if it can’t be connected to the right owner.

A remote location may attract thieves

It’s a good idea to pay attention to the protection of cottages. Reasons for the rise in holiday home burglaries include remote locations and less sophisticated alarm systems compared to ordinary homes, and the fact that, nowadays, holiday homes are well equipped with modern comforts.

This means that there can be more valuable items worth stealing. In addition, holiday homes can often be unoccupied for extended periods.

A police dog tracking a scent in woodland with its nose to the ground with a constable following behind.

Suojaa omaisuutesi -vinkit en

Protect your property! Tips for preventing house and cottage burglaries

Property crimes can be prevented with relatively simple methods and small costs. Breaking into houses, cottages, vehicles and boats should be made as difficult as possible, noisy and time-consuming.

Asunto- ja mökkimurrot haitari eng

Proper locking and lighting systems, marking your property visibly, and installing a burglar alarm system can effectively help to prevent theft.

Keep your home looking lived-in also during holidays.
Ask a neighbour to empty your mailbox or to mow your lawn once in a while.
It is advisable to keep your holiday plans and absences from home out of the social media.
Make sure that your front door is equipped with a modern deadbolt lock. You can install a separate safety lock for increased safety. Also pay attention to good structural burglary prevention systems of doors.
Always keep your home’s doors and windows locked, when possible.
Lock the front door when the residents are in the back yard.
Take care of the property’s lighting and use different alarm systems.
abelling property: there are devices available nowadays with which you can easily label items with a unique identifier.

To prevent break-ins, make sure also your summer house is equipped with proper locks and lighting systems, and preferably with a surveillance system. It is also a good idea to remove all valuables from the summer house if it is not used regularly used during the winter. Thieves look for home electronics, valuables, alcohol and guns.

How can you affect the amount of burglaries and the damage they cause?

Don’t leave any valuable items accessible. Remove everything valuable and interesting from the summer cottage. Don’t leave weapons, alcohol, electronics, power tools or anything else that is easy to sell.
If you must leave valuable items, record a description of them and of any unique identifiers that they may have. One good course of action is to label property, and there are devices available nowadays with which you can easily label items with a unique identifier.
Leave the curtains open. Thieves will then be able to see from the outside that there is nothing worth stealing
Burglar alarms, surveillance cameras and stickers and signs informing visitors of same are an effective deterrent.
Cooperation is recommended. Agree with all local cottage owners that everyone will keep an eye out for security in the area, i.e. monitor the movements of suspicious persons and notify the police as necessary. When offenders notice that they have been spotted, they generally go elsewhere rather than hang around.

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