STRIDING down a quiet Springfield road in broad daylight, these two young men are being sought by police to answer questions about 37 Chelmsford burglaries.
The victims include a man who shouted at and scared away hooded criminals prising open his Linnet Drive front door at 3.30am last Tuesday, while £1,020 in cash was stolen from a Meon Close home earlier that morning.
Speaking to the Chronicle, Acting Superintendent Steve Ditchburn said he had never heard of so many burglaries in such a short space of time.
Yet as a county council meeting takes place today to discuss street lighting approaches, the former Met police officer shrugged off any suggestion that the spike in burglaries is related to the night-time blackout.
Chelmsford in darkness after street light switch off"While there are burglaries at night time there are also burglaries in the day time," said the district commander of Chelmsford, Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers.
Mr Ditchburn, who has had about four letters protesting the switch-off, was responsible for telling the city council which lights he wanted to remain on.
He said: "I don't think the switch-off has caused an increase in crime, yet what has increased is the community's fear of crime because of the feedback I've received.
"But whether the two are connected I don't think so, just look at Maldon which has seen a reduction in crime year on year since its switch-off.
"But the switch-off hasn't discouraged burglary and in darkness it isn't so easy to assist in the description of suspects – it is something I'm looking into."
The recent spate of burglaries had reached 37 by Sunday.
Jewellery and a laptop were taken from a Christy Avenue home at about 5.15pm on Monday, while a Boreham home was broken into just before 6.10am on Tuesday.
On Monday, a family trapped an intruder in their home after returning to Byron Road just before 3.50pm.
Emma Boniface, of Wordsworth Court, Chelmsford, has been charged with aggravated burglary.
Mr Ditchburn said that homeowners detaining burglars was rare and advised against it, especially as the intruder may have a weapon.
"This is the most I've witnessed in such a short space of time," added Mr Ditchburn, whose officers spend hours patrolling hotspots to tackle the city's "priority problem".
Burglary is one of just two offences for which crime figures across his districts have risen since last year, along with serious violent crime.
All offences are down by 300 on his patch in 2012, a 5.6 per cent reduction.
There have been 5,457 burglaries across Essex this year already compared with a 7,740 total last year, while there were 6,511 recorded in 2010.
In September last year in Chelmsford, the total stood at 28 by the end of the month.
"The fear of crime is the main problem. We want people to feel safe in Chelmsford because it is a safe city," said Mr Ditchburn.
"If you look at other cities we are very low on crime but it's people's perception that is always difficult to crack."
Mr Ditchburn said the two men, photographed near Aldi supermarket on Springfield Road on Monday, September 9, could hold crucial answers.
Anyone with information should contact detectives at Chelmsford police station on 101.
