Back to the office and school, long vacations and visits: The year 2022 made Germans much more mobile again. That's because most of the restrictions in the Corona pandemic were rolled back after more than two years. This created more opportunities for burglars to break into houses and apartments.
This was also reflected in the Police Crime Statistics (PKS) for 2022, which was presented in Berlin on Thursday by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), the chairwoman of the Conference of Interior Ministers and Interior Senator of Berlin, Iris Spranger (SPD), and the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch.
One attempted burglary every eight minutes
A total of 65,908 cases, including attempted burglaries, were recorded, compared with 54,236 cases in 2021. This means that a burglary was attempted every eight minutes last year. The clearance rate in 2022 was 16.1 percent. Despite the increase, the number of cases last year was still below the level of the "pre-Corona years." For 2019, the PKS had recorded 87,145 cases, including attempted burglaries.
In parallel with the burglaries, the amount of damage also increased from 146.6 million euros in 2021 to 206.6 million euros last year. This corresponds to a loot of 3,135 euros per case on average. Damage caused during burglary of houses and apartments is not included in this figure. Neither does the psychological strain that often accompanies victims for a long time after a break-in.
Retrofittable security devices rob the perpetrators of time
The best protection against a successful burglary is additional security devices for windows and doors. These rob burglars of time. If the perpetrators are not successful after a few minutes, they usually move on. The risk of being caught in the act is too great for them.
Last year, for example, 46.8 percent of burglaries got stuck at the attempted stage. "The figures show that burglaries are once again the order of the day. At the same time, additional security devices offer robust protection against successful burglary attempts," says Gerrit Lüling, overall sales manager at security specialist BURG-WÄCHTER.
BURG-WÄCHTER WinSafe: Top marks "very good" from "Stiftung Warentest".
BURG-WÄCHTER offers a broad and high-quality portfolio of retrofittable security devices. This is also proven by the current comparison of "Stiftung Warentest". Both the window security WinSafe WS 33 for the handle side ("very good" 0.9) and the double deadbolt WinSafe WS 22 ("very good" 1.1) convinced the testers and received top marks in the major comparison. The WinSafe WS 33 model thus even achieved the top score of all retrofit security systems in the various categories.
Protection is also offered by modern alarm systems such as BURGsmart PROTECTwhich register attempted break-ins via motion or contact detectors and trigger an alarm while simultaneously informing the occupant via smartphone. Surveillance cameras such as those from the BURGcam series also deter burglars.
Burglars like to be active in the light
By the way: Contrary to expectations, burglaries often occur at daytime. For example, when the occupants are at work or school. Even a short absence while shopping is enough for burglars. Because poorly secured windows are no obstacle for professionals. They can crack them in just a few seconds. In 2022, exactly 36.7 percent of burglaries occurred during the day. The proportion is likely to be even higher, as it is not possible to determine the exact time of the crime in all cases. For example, if the occupant only comes home from work in the evening.
Safes protect against burglary and fire
Despite all precautionary measures, burglars can still succeed in breaking into a house or apartment. That's why valuables, important documents and treasured possessions should be stored in a high-quality safe. This makes it much more difficult for burglars to get away with a big haul. Models with certified burglary protection and certified fire protection have proven their worth. This means that the contents of the safe are protected even in the event of a fire.
Burglaries in adjoining rooms remain at a high level
According to PKS 2022, residential burglaries were joined by another 79,930 cases of theft from basements, attics and laundry rooms. This is a decrease of 11.1 percent compared to the previous year. Popular stolen goods from basements are high-value bicycles and e-bikes. This shows that these access points and the bikes and other good saleable items parked there also need to be robustly secured. In addition to strong padlocks for the cellar doors are particularly secure chain, shackle, folding or rope locks for the two-wheeled for the two-wheelers.