Summer Is Burglary Season

There have been several burglaries in the last week or two in town and the Berlin Police is investigating whether they are related.

One of the incidents, where stolen property was found fromsheds on both Clockshop Drive and Brownstone Road, was performed by the same person or people.

"We seized a bunch of equipment from the burglaries on Clockshop and Brownstone and we have it but we don't know who it all belongs to yet," said Lt. Chris Ciuci. "We are reaching out to the people who live in those neighborhoods to check their sheds and garages to see if they are missing anything. We don't want to say exactly what we have yet but we may have to go that route and put photos up. I have a feeling that people just haven't been to their sheds in a few days and don't know that things have been stolen."

Ciuci said he is not sure if any of the other incidents over the last few weeks are related.

"We don't know for sure," he said. "The summer months are when burglaries increase. We investigate them all and when we catch one of them we try to link it to other similar crimes to see if they are related."

Ciuci said burglaries increase in the summer because doors and windows left open to let in the warm summer air also leads to easy entrance to homes and sheds.

"It's common sense that people should always secure their property but in the summer, most people don't even think about it," he said. "What would really be helpful is we want people to call immediately if they see anything suspicious. Whether it's a suspicious car or person, we want to know when they see them.

"Sometimes people are hesitant to call for a number of reasons, whether they don't want to be bothered or they think they might upset neighbors. It would be a huge help if they call when the activity is observed and not hours later when the person or car could be long gone. Let the police be the judge of what is going on if you think something is suspicious. We would rather have more calls than no calls or late calls."

Anyone observing suspicious activity in their neighborhoods can call the main dispatch number of the Berlin Police Department (860) 828-7080 or if it is an emergency call 911.