Those under court imposed sanctions should follow them least they encounter the long arm of the law is the message from Hamilton Police as they review the latest phase of an ongoing operation.
Sergeant Aaron Alderton of the City's Tactical Response Unit said the objective of Operation Persil, now into its second year, was to target recidivist violent and dishonesty offenders.
"The summer period is the busiest time for Police in terms of the number of residential burglaries reported. As home owners head out to the beach burglars fill the void, and their sacks, taking advantage of less people being around.
"To combat this, over the past two years we have assigned dedicated proactive units to target career criminals, turning up at all hours to do bail checks and generally ensure those up to no good feel under pressure."
And the initiative is certainly having an effect with over 300 arrests since last November.
"The message is certainly getting out there, during our October phase we had 15 people come to the Central Police Station to surrender themselves who cited pressure from Police on their friends and relatives as the reason they turned themselves in.
"And yesterday of the 20 arrests made four were of people who turned themselves in, the message is simple, if you are on bail or other court imposed sanction you had better adhere to them otherwise you can expect us to turn up, anywhere- any time."
Over recent months Police have been emphasising the correlation between dishonesty offending and the illicit drugs trade and that was no more apparent than yesterday when officers went to a Claudelands address seeking a burglar wanted on a warrant.
"The man wasn't there however his 32-year-old friend was as well as 105 cannabis plants and five seedlings. Admitting ownership if the plants the man was arrested and now faces cultivation charges."
While Police were doing their part in applying pressure to burglars and their associates Mr Alderton said officers couldn't do it alone.
"We need people who see suspicious activity to phone us and we need residents to take basic security steps such as securing doors and windows, not letting junk mail and papers stack up in the mail box and notifying neighbours if you're going away.
"The secret is target hardening your home, making it look like someone is there and convincing the burglar it's just not worth the risk."
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