Inspector Joe Doherty called for the public to be vigilant to help stop the number of burglaries in Ballina at the town’s joint policing committee meeting this week.
“Burglaries are slightly up in February this year compared to last, up from seven to nine,” he told the meeting. The inspector said the previous week the town had been visited by two gangs, one from Dublin and one from another part of the country. One gang was detected by a member on foot patrol in the town and the other gang was apprehended in Galway. The property was recovered and the gang will be in court in Galway this week. The inspector also told the meeting that the crime prevention education scheme the gardaí ran before Christmas was very successful. They placed leaflets for a number of weeks outlining tips in the churches in the town, which was well received.
Insp Doherty called for vigilance from the public and said that the neighbourhood watch schemes in place in the town were key to this vigilance. “There are 18 neighbourhood watch schemes in the town and each of them has a contact garda,” he said. “But it’s down to the groups to look out for each other and let us know if something is going on.” He said there are grants available whereby people update the locks on their houses and all groups should look into these grants.
