xIn the latest of our special reports on silent crimes, the Lancashire Post and the Blackpool Gazette have been investigating burglaries across the county and what the Police are doing to tackle the ongoing issue. Our Silent Crimes campaign, run in conjunction with our sister titles across the National World, shines a light on those crimes that go unreported or under-investigated by the authorities.
Burglaries have been impacting many places, businesses, and people across Lancashire, whether commercial Burglariesburglaries of businesses or residential burglaries of people'speople's homes. The ongoing issue forced Lancashire Police to launch Operation Defender in December 2022. The operation aims to crack down on residential Burglary. Operation Defender has led to a 50% reduction in crimes countywide since January 2019. 

Inspector Jon Campbell-smith of the Lancashire Police said: “Burglary is one of those crimes that are too intrusive to people's lives, whether it be residential Burglary, the effect it has on someone who is the victim of that is enormous, so any burglary that takes place is a serious matter.