by It all started with a childhood memory that he cherishes to this day. Chief Superintendent Chris Foster was a young boy when he returned from a family holiday and found his house had been broken into.
“I remember when I was eight years old being burglarized”, he said. “It was my family’s house in Barnsley. We went camping for a weekend and put a new window frame in the back of the house – so it was putty and glass and it was wooden. There was a wooden window sill. It wasn’t painted.
“We walked into the house and there were bits and pieces scattered all over the house. I clearly remember this bootprint on the window sill. It was a sign that someone had been in the house.
“They stole my mother’s engagement ring. They went through all the bedrooms and that night I couldn’t sleep.”
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The moment changed Chris’s attitude and he felt insecure in his own home.
“I had to put a rolling pin under my bed which gave a sense of comfort and protection”, he said. “But still to this day I remember that feeling of walking in and thinking there’s someone in my bedroom.”
His anger at the breach is still captivating. And now, it’s the emotion that drives him to protect others in their own homes.
The chief constable at Greater Manchester Police has helped launch an anti-burglary initiative to reduce the number of break-ins in the area. The force has launched Operation Castle.
The message behind the name is simple – “A castle is supposed to be your safe place, your home”, he said. The force is focused on making sure people’s homes are kept safe.
The Chief Superintendent. he says he is tasked with implementing a “cultural change” called for by GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson in the way burglaries are investigated and victims are supported in the region.
It means more robust investigations, authentic empathy with victims, and the use of psychology.
The results are great. In 2020 there were 21,875 burglaries in Greater Manchester. So far this year there have been 11,236. The launch of Operation Castle in July 2021 has led to higher detection rates and more arrests.
But it is showing the rank and file officers the long-term impact that burglary can have on people, which has given the force’s operational momentum.
“There is more emphasis now on burglary. We did some work with victims when they came to talk to us about how we responded to burglary. The impact on some of them as a result of a burglary was terrible. We saw people who moved houses because they were being burglarized. You talk about combined crimes.
“We need to make sure we put together a quality investigation and make the file to charge somebody and take them to court. Sentencing is outside our remit but we can have discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service and possibly influence them.
“I know the Chief Constable has made the point that we need to work together better in many cases and he is at the forefront of the SPC. We are arresting a lot of people – the number of arrests has increased massively because on burglary We need to answer the 999 call quickly and attend promptly The culture has changed.
Chief Superintendent Foster insists that the police mentality of ‘it’s a burglary, what are your chances of detecting it’ has gone.
“How do you know if you don’t go out there and investigate?”, he said.
“The Chief Constable has said that when someone comes into your house and burglarizes that we will investigate every case. That’s the right thing to do.”
Overall burglary crime in Greater Manchester fell by 31.6% between 2021-22 and 2023-24, with 7,382 fewer crimes.
Business and community burglaries fell by 28 per cent, from 5,478 in 2021-22 to 3,942 in 2023-24. Residential burglary crime decreased by 32.7%, with 5,846 fewer crimes recorded between October ’23 and September ’24 compared to October ’21 – September ’22.
The number of arrests for recorded crimes has increased from 12.8 per cent in 2022-23 to 14.2 in 2023-24. Over the same period the number of burglaries solved in the business community has increased from 6.9 per cent to 16.8, while residential burglaries have increased from 4.8 per cent to 9.9 per cent. The recovery is a big one since four years ago about one percent of burglaries were solved.
Chief Superintendent Foster said: “We start with preventative messages for example as the nights start to get darker making sure people don’t leave doors open, and warning students coming back for the new term – often they live with some other students and can be in other places. goal.”
Officers visit University campuses and run crime prevention stalls during freshman week.
Other Christmas break-in messages are issued about the risk of leaving presents on display in homes or vehicles. Chief Superintendent Foster said: “There has been a big increase in burglaries targeting Asian families. We can link that to a particular time of year which is traditionally the wedding season – and sending out messages before period.”
The force also issues postcode-specific warnings and advice for areas with high burglaries.
GMP has also adapted the “nudge theory” first used at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. “The airport spent thousands of pounds cleaning the floor of the men’s urinals and thought how can we cut costs and aim more precisely for men. So they got a flight transfer in the bottom of the urinal – so usually men aimed at it and it was a more accurate shot.
“We then spoke to Jason Roach, a professor at the University of Huddersfield and did some work with him on how nudge theory can be used to persuade someone to do something rather than telling them they are doing something wrong . a way to convince people to do something different.
“So, for example, with the question of the students, instead of going around and saying ‘you’re rubbish, there’s six of you living together, you leave your doors open and you don’t know who’s coming in or out’. If there was a burglary, you ask ‘do you close your door when you go out, do you make sure it’s locked’.
He added: “Repeat or near-repeat victimization is when people are more likely to be burglarized six to eight weeks after they’ve been burglarized. You’d think the burglar would stay away because there might be an increased presence. But it’s down to the best hunting theory, the burglars know the area, they know where they’re going, they know it’s a soft place, and what they’ll find when they do. they also break into if you live near someone who has been burglarized they are likely to be burglarized.”
Officers sent to the aftermath of a burglary are now given a research-based package. “A lot of the stuff we were doing was well-intentioned but a blanket approach to it. We need to be a bit more sophisticated to improve the service for our victims.”
Among the packages are records of house-to-house inquiries – prompting the officer – that they need to knock on doors looking for witnesses and CCTV. Victims complete a home security checklist that gives them a score that helps identify weak spots in the protection of their property. In addition there is a sheet with burglary investigation standards to be followed by the officers.
A few days after a burglary he will be attended by a PCSO. “We do something called cocooning – to see what else we can do for the victim and neighbors. like window alarms and timers to turn on lights But there has to be sophistication around that – we’d ask if there’s a light underneath stairs every night you’re away for two weeks or does it come on in the bathroom at 3am then go off after a minute – it has to be subtle to give the impression that someone is in the property.”
Hotspot patrols mean officers now return to a burglarized property weeks later to ensure neighbors are aware of a potential second strike by a criminal.
Greater Manchester Police can be contacted via gmp.police.uk or 101. In an emergency, always call 999. Crime information can also be shared anonymously through the independent charity – Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
