Denmark’s high rate of break-ins takes a fall

Danish homeowners reported 36,628 break-ins in 2014, according to the Danish Crime Prevention Council (Det Kriminalpræventive Råd – DKR). That’s the lowest number since 2007 and a 12.5 percent decrease from 2013 figures. 

 

“We are very pleased with the nice decrease in the number of break-ins in Denmark. 36,628 break-ins per year is still however way too many so there is still a need for everyone to be better at preventing visits from unwelcome guests,” DKR spokeswoman Lone Harlev said in a press release. 

 

Even though the numbers are on the wane, Denmark still has one of the highest rates of break-ins in Europe. As of 2014, the country was second to only Greece and home burglaries are far more frequent in Denmark than in its Scandinavian neighbours. 

 

DKR reported in August that Denmark has 749 reported break-ins for every 100,000 residents in 2013, while there were only 218 in Sweden and 104 in Norway. 

 

Speaking to The Local at that time, Harlev said that Danes aren’t as active in deterring burglars as they should be. 

 

“Danish residents aren’t as good as people in other countries at securing their homes with the proper locks and windows or with carrying out neighbourhood watches,” Harlev told The Local. “But not only are we not as good at securing our homes, we also have a lot of valuables and when it is easy to come in, that increases the benefit for the burglar.”

 

DRK said that the decline in break-ins in 2014 can be attributed to the increased popularity of the neighbourhood watch programme Nabohjælp, which now has some 85,000 registered households.