BBC Crimewatch Live takes in-depth look at Birmingham burglary investigation
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This morning, Sergeant Sandy Thompson featured on BBC Crimewatch Live talking about how we caught a prolific burglar in Birmingham.
Last September, a 42-year-old man was jailed for 10 years after admitting to more than 70 burglaries between June 2023 and April 2024.
He was previously convicted of burglary and given an opportunity to have a deferred sentence through an intensive community sentence plan, as part of our Crime Free programme.
The Crime Free Team targets individuals who are engaged in prolific, non-violent burglary offending.
As part of the programme the individual is given the opportunity to admit to previous offending and they must give back the property that was stolen.
Through this programme, we were able to reunite a large amount of stolen property back with their rightful owners.
However, despite enrolling onto the Crime Free Programme, he went onto recommit offences, and as a result, he was handed a lengthier sentence.
Burglary is down more than 20% in the West Midlands – the equivalent of 2,300 fewer victims.
It’s the second biggest reduction in burglaries among forces of a similar size to West Midlands.
Our focus is preventing burglaries, targeting repeat offenders and organised crime groups, and solving as many burglaries as we can.
We know just how devastating and frightening a crime it can be and our locally-based investigators are committed to supporting victims and bringing criminals to justice.
The BBC Crimewatch feature takes an in depth look at our investigation with Sgt Sandy Thompson showcasing all the good work that brought the man to justice.