Monday 10 May 2010 :
necessary precautions for their houses to avoid burglary
The Capital Police Directorate (CPD) has urged citizens and residents to use necessary means and methods of protection for their homes during their absence. They should not leave valuables behind to avoid theft, especially by some housemaids. Housemaids are on top of the list of those who commit burglaries.
Colonel Maktoum Al Shareefi, Director of CPD said “76 of domestic staff, males and females, out of the total of 175 of individuals involved in burglaries, 43%, last year”.
He has classified the thefts committed by housemaids in percentage as 37% monies and 33% in kind. Jewelries are most targeted items by 50%, mobile phones by 12%, hone appliances and wrist watches by 9%. There are two methods of burglaries: Entering homes without use of violence is 86% and breaking in is 14%. Burglars prefer apartments (58) than villas (42%) as was shown in CPD report in 2009.
Brigadier Mohammad Saleh Badah, Director of Media and Public Relations at MoI said “Burglaries increase during summer season as citizens and residents leave their homes for summer vacation. Thus housemaids take advantage of families’ absence and even some of them do not lock the doors and windows of their houses properly”.
“Burglars adopt new methods and modus operandi in the hope that security agencies will not detect them. But they wrong because security men are there all the time to foil and detect any criminal act”, added Badah.
Colonel al Shareefi has ascribed burglaries to home owners' negligence when they do not safeguard their properties in a safe way by 33%, abuse of housemaids by 25% and over trust by 14%. According to statistics burglaries are easy. This means home folk do not take necessary precautions. He urges owners to lock their homes securely and that they should not leave housemaids behind. They should also do not leave moneys and valuables in front of housemaids’ eyes, whatsoever they trust them. Moreover, he urges families not to employ housemaids not under their sponsorship. They should not employ part time housemaids as such practices are against the law. Families should monitor housemaids' behaviors, especially in public places, when they accompany children outside homes at parks and places of recreation.
He has warned against leaving valuables in children hands as this will expose them to assault by criminals. Housemaids must be treated in a good way; they should treat them as humans and allow them to contact their families at homeland from time to time.
Workshops and meetings are to be held with domestic staff recruiting offices to educate the prospective staff on Emirates’ people traditions and norms, prevailing Islamic values and folloed laws and regulations.
He calls on people to report any theft or law violation to the police without hesitation so as to curb such criminal attempts and to enhance our community safety and security.
In the same context Lt. Colonel Mubarak bin Meheiroom; Director of community Policing Department said “Our role is preventive. It is represented in educating the community on the risks of thefts and protecting our children against criminal behaviors. We take effective awareness actions according to the outcome of theft reasons analysis. We cooperate with authorities concerned to curb this phenomenon”.
“We send our awareness and preventive message through different means of communication and Medias, field visits especially neighborhoods and theft hot spots. We talk to people and advise them to protect their children and thus we protect the community as a whole”, added bin Meheiroom.
Abdullah Al K