Thieves have found a new way to cash in instantly.
A cash for BlackBerrys scheme, similar to the cash for gold, is making the hottest mobile phone the object of desire for criminals.
Yesterday Inspector David Welch said there had been an upsurge in the theft of BlackBerrys as new advertisements promoting cash for BlackBerrys were appearing in the media. He was speaking after displaying a number of stolen items recovered by police, and appealing to the public and business places to be careful.
Welch said thieves were targeting persons with BlackBerry cellphones in order to make easy money and that it was creating a headache for the police.
The force, said Welch, would be looking at getting assistance from the providers in order to track stolen mobile phones and their illegal users.
Meanwhile he said that owners of construction companies and warehouses should pay attention to beefing up the security of their property in light of the spate of robberies.
Welch said criminals were doing their homework in order to find the weak link in security and were making off with thousands of dollars in property.
Welch who showed a room at Oistins Police Station filled with stolen items from homes, properties under construction and warehouses. The items included thousands of nails, construction tools and building items, shoes, clothes, cameras, video games, jumper cables, laptops and widescreen television.
There was also a large silver cross among the items.
Welch indicated that two suspects were in custody since beginning their criminal spree in January.
“Some of the owners of the items have been located, but we cannot keep these items indefinitely. So we are appealing to the public for assistance in coming in to identify the property,” Welch added.
He was concerned that the thieves were doing their “homework” and assessing potential areas to burglarize, some entering through the roofs to avoid setting off alarms.
“These companies have to increase their security and persons must look at hard-locking their construction sites, as well as introducing layered and human elements . . . . Most construction sites have padlocks on their containers as the sole means of keeping out thieves.
“Alarms, chains, padlocks and human security, particularly if the site is isolated, are key to preventing some of these thefts,” Welch explained.
While indicating that construction sites and businesses also suffered from internal security breaches, Welch stressed that Barbadians can pay closer attention to the back and side areas
of their homes as those were the most vulnerable to thieves.
“Barbadians love their privacy; so they build high walls at the back, ignoring the fact that that also gives privacy to perpetrators.
“Installing nice strong doors at the front of the house and then placing louvred windows within six feet of those doors also compromises the security of those doors,” Welch warned.
At the station were also two stolen vehicles.
Welch stated that two individuals had used a Suzuki Fronte which was hotwired and stolen from Carrington Village to waylay a female shopper and steal her Toyota car on Saturday night.
“The Yuletide operations where we have increased our mobile patrol, with gazetted officers joining the street patrol, saw swift intervention by the force where the two suspects were pursued and apprehended in Newton, Christ Church,” the inspector said. (KB)
