The last few weeks have seen a succession of burglaries in Luxembourg. The final hours of 2022 were no exception: no less than nine burglaries were reported to the police across the country on New Year’s Eve alone.
For Marc and Sonia, the burglary had taken place a day earlier, on the evening of 30 December.
When Marc arrived at the front door of his house in Limpertsberg, he had a premonition that something was wrong. And for good reason: half an hour earlier, his mobile phone had told him that two women were ringing the doorbell, which is equipped with a camera.
Marc immediately recognised one of the two women on the images who had already rung the bell insistently two days earlier. As soon as Marc entered the house, he realised that they had just been victims of a burglary. He called Sonia and police right away.
The broken glass in the window overlooking the garden and an open drawer in the living room chest of drawers were clear signs of the break-in. It usually takes five to ten minutes for burglars to break in and search a house, according to police.
Upstairs the burglars were more active: All the drawers in the bedroom and bathroom were searched, said Sonia. Marc added that the burglars had found his watches and some jewellery, but they left everything as they saw that it was not of any value. Sonia also checked to see if the garage remote control key and the car keys were still there.
Fortunately, Marc and Sonia believe that the burglars did not manage to steal anything, but the invisible after-effects of the burglary remain. As Marc said, “It was a shock, like a small assault.” It made him furious that people would invade their privacy by breaking into their home.
Since the incident, the couple has been left wondering what more can be done to protect the house.
The last activity report of the Grand-Ducal Police for 2021 indicates that the RGB Section (Repression of Major Crime and Organised Robberies), which conducts investigations on burglaries in particular, had noted a return of professional criminal groups operating from abroad. However, the number of burglaries was ‘fairly stable’ compared to the previous year.
In 2021, 3,106 burglaries and attempted burglaries, including 1,649 completed burglaries, were reported to the police, of which 1,147 were in inhabited houses (+6.6% in one year) and 502 in uninhabited premises (-10.68%). Figures for 2022 should be available in April.
The extent of the steps taken by the police following a burglary differs from case to case. Sometimes it is worth sending in the technical police to look for fingerprints, but in other cases this does not make sense, explains Frank Stoltz, director of communications for the police. He adds that the details of the investigations vary, but if a burglary is reported to the police, they always try to find the burglars. Combining all related offences - burglaries, car thefts, general delinquency and others - the police posted a clearance rate of 53.2% in 2021.
Names were changed at the interviewees’ request.
