Crime prevention advice for owners of high-value gold jewellery

Merseyside Police is advising people storing high-value jewellery and other expensive gold items in their home to ensure it is stored securely or better still, to keep it in a safe deposit box.

It is particularly important that the advice reaches members of the Asian community who may follow the tradition of giving gold jewellery as a gift, which is then passed down family generations.

Although Merseyside has seen a 7% decrease in residential burglary so far this year compared to 2022, in recent weeks there have been a number of burglaries where the victims have been members of the Asian community and gold jewellery has been among the items taken.

Detective Inspector Kevin O’Rourke of Merseyside Police’s burglary team, known as Operation Castle, said: “Burglary is a very personal crime and having pieces of jewellery stolen that are of enormous sentimental value can be distressing for the victims.

“As autumn approaches and the nights draw in, we often see an increase in burglaries. It is rare for members of the Asian community to be targeted in this way, but some burglars will take advantage of cultural traditions and aim to steal a family’s gold.”

Inspector Azizur Rahman of the Community Engagement team said: “If you do keep valuable jewellery or large amounts of cash in your home, please take steps to secure it properly. Simply attempting to hide jewellery or cash is not enough, no matter how well you think you have hidden it. A determined burglar will search high and low for your treasured possessions.

“Ideally, you should remove all gold and jewellery from your house altogether and secure these items in a safe deposit box. If you would prefer to keep gold and jewellery at home, buy a high-quality safe, which complies with insurance rating standards and is fixed securely to a wall or the floor.

 “We are sharing advice today on some steps you can take to make yourself and your home more secure. We also know that in some households across Merseyside’s Asian community, English may not be spoken much, if at all. This is why we are also sharing links to a collection of crime prevention videos recorded in a selection of Asian languages.

“The videos are hosted on the force’s YouTube channel and are available in the following languages: Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Leaflets are also available in each respective language, linked in the description of each video. Officers from my team will be sharing this advice at the venues we visit on a regular basis, including the region’s mosques, The Deen Centre, The Pagoda Arts Centre and The Wirral Chinese Association.”

To help protect your valuables and keep your home secure, follow this advice:

Don’t leave jewellery or cash on display in your home or even hidden – instead use a bank safe deposit box to store high-value items, or buy a good quality safe and bolt it to a brick wall
Photograph each item, keep a written description and make sure it is included in your insurance policy
Use special property marking technology from www.securedbydesign.com
Be discreet if wearing jewellery or carrying large amounts of cash in public
Make sure your social media account security settings are ‘high’ or ‘private’
Keep your windows and doors locked and use a burglar alarm and security lighting
Be vigilant of unexpected callers or cold-callers offering doorstep services – write down who they said they were, details of any vehicle they were in, and save and back-up any CCTV footage of them
Join your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme
Report any suspicious activity, such as being watched or followed, to the police via the website, on social media or by calling 101
More information can be found at: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/protect-home-crime/keep-burglars-out-property/

Detective Inspector Kevin O’Rourke added: “We are committed to pursuing the offenders of these crimes and the support of our communities is vital in helping us put burglars behind bars. We regularly act on information from the public, so please come forward if you know anything about suspected burglary and the sale of stolen goods where you are.”

If you have any information about anyone acting suspiciously in the vicinity of homes or businesses, or being in possession of suspected stolen goods, please contact our social media desk on X @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or pass information via their secure online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously