Summer cottage burglaries spike in Q1

The number of summer cottage burglaries reported to the police has grown during the first quarter of this year compared to that in the corresponding period of last year.

According to police statistics, a total of 268 cases of summer cottage burglary were reported in January to March this year. In the same time frame in 2019, the reported number of such cases was 143, said the National Police Board in a press release on Wednesday.

“There has been an increase in districts with lots of summer cottages, such as Inland Finland, Southwest Finland, Tavastia, Eastern Finland and Southeast Finland,” said National Police Board Chief Superintendent Jyrki Aho.

The situation in Lapland, Western Uusimaa and Helsinki has been the same as in last year, while the number of such cases in Oulu and Ostrobothnia has declined compared to that in last year.

“There was a higher than normal increase right away in January to February, when the owners themselves have either visited their cottages and noticed the crimes or the supervision of the cottages was given to someone else. In March, the numbers further increased, but this has also happened in the previous years due to people starting to use their summer cottages as usual. The damage is often revealed when the new summer cottage season starts in spring,” remarked Aho.

He said the items stolen from the cottages are generally utility tools and work machinery, mopeds and quad cycles, and trailers needed for transporting them.