Operation Castle: Police tackling Doncaster burglary rates

These reasons are one of many that led to the launch of Op Castle, a targeted burglary operation in Doncaster that has seen a reduction in the number of burglaries across the district.

Op Castle was launched in February this year after Doncaster was highlighted to be an area that sees significantly higher rates of home burglaries, compared to other areas across the country. The operation has already seen some great successes, with Doncaster recording its lowest number of burglaries in the past five years, with over a 21% decrease compared to 2022.

Chief Superintendent Ian Proffitt, Doncaster Distract Commander, said: “The success we have already seen with Op Castle is outstanding.

“Historically, Doncaster has seen higher rates of burglary, and this is due to repeat offenders who target multiple properties. We know that being a victim of burglary can have a lasting impact on you and your family. We want to ensure that people feel safe when at home, knowing we are doing everything we can to get these offenders behind bars and off the streets.”

Since February, Op Castle has secured over 100 charges for burglary and related offences, with convicted offenders jailed for up to eight years.

The operation team includes a dedicated burglary sergeant supervising five detectives and two burglary scene attenders. The team use local intelligence identifying trends to focus their patrols and ensure they gather the evidence needed to secure criminal charges against prolific offenders in the district.

Mario Cicak is one criminal the Op Castle team have placed behind bars. Cicak committed a burglary in Doncaster on the evening of Tuesday 20 June, taking the victim’s bank cards among other property.

The victim traced spending on their bank cards to a shop in the local area. The Op Castle team received photos of the suspect, who was recognised as Cicak. Officers were sent to his address where the victim’s items were recovered, including engagement rings that were taken during the burglary.

Other property was also located in Cicak’s home relating to a different burglary he committed on the same night. The officers returned this property to its owner, who had only just reported the burglary to the police. Cicak, 19, of Hexthorpe Road, Doncaster, was sentenced to three years in prison for four counts of fraud and three counts of burglary on 29 August 2023 at Sheffield Crown Court.

As well as focusing on putting criminals behind bars, the Op Castle team dedicate time towards victim care, reuniting people with sentimental items that have been taken during a burglary.

Earlier this year, Temporary Detective Sergeant James Wiggins, reunited a Rolex watch with its owner, after it went missing in 2016. After being made aware that the watch has been taken to a jeweller in a different area of the country, the Op Castle team linked the missing watch with the reported burglary in 2016. TDS Wiggins completed lines of enquiry with the local community, obtaining the owners number.

The watch, which was bought with inheritance money, was returned to the victim, who expressed him gratitude by personally writing to Chief Constable Lauren Poultney thanking TDS Wiggins for his outstanding service.

Superintendent Pete Thorp, force lead for neighbourhood crime, adds: “Op Castle was developed as a pilot, trialling ways in which we can achieve lower rates of burglary. The success we have seen has been a true testament of how hard the team at Doncaster have worked over the past year.

“As a force, we are currently looking at how we can decrease burglary rates and improve the victim care we provide to members of the public who unfortunately do become a victim of burglary.

“We are currently looking at what we have learned from this pilot and we are developing a new software mapping system which will allow us to identify areas across the force which are experiencing higher burglary offences. We will then develop problem-oriented policing plans, exploring how we can work with local neighbourhood policing officers to identify what we can do to support communities and reduce burglary rates in that area.”