Police share advice for Wigan residents whose homes are targeted by burglars

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has issued a series of tips for what people should do before crime scene investigators (CSI) attend and examine the property for potential evidence.

They aim to maximize any forensic evidence that has been left behind so the investigators can build a case for officers to then examine.

A crime scene investigator, named only as Poppy by the force, said: “We understand how impactive burglary is as a crime and we want to make as many people as we can aware of what you can do to preserve your home in the unfortunate event you are burgled, and we have a few simple steps you can do to help us to help you with finding who is responsible.

“Firstly, the point of entry into your home, whether it be a broken door or an open window, try to minimize how many times you touch this area as much as possible, but we understand that your home needs to be secured as the burglary could have happened during the night.

“If any windows or doors have been left open, use plastic gloves or your hand wrapped with a plastic bag to avoid the transfer of evidence and use the door handle or window handles to close them with gloves.

“If your door needs to be secured or boarded up for any reason, this may be done by an external company, who are already aware of the importance of the preservation of evidence, but just ensure whoever is doing this puts on a pair of plastic gloves to prevent adding any more fingerprints to the scene.

“In the event the door or window is removed completely and placed outside of your address, just place this inside for us, so it is somewhere dry and accessible for when we arrive. Again, do this by wearing plastic gloves or covering your hand with a plastic bag.

“If you see any visible footprints in the property or outside, please avoid these areas and place a clean container over them to ensure they are not walked over.

“If there are any items left outside your home that may have been touched or moved out of their usual place by offenders and it is a rainy or wet weather outside, use plastic gloves or a plastic bag over your hand to move them to a dry place and let us know where it was moved from when CSI arrive.

“In the case of blood that is found in your home that may be the offender’s, again, if this is in a place where you will need to walk to get around your home, ensure that you place a clean container over any traces of blood to ensure it is not contaminated before CSI arrive.”

Anyone with information to help bring burglars and handlers of stolen goods to justice can contact police online or by calling 101.

Information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.