By JEREMY REES
More than 50 schools in West Auckland have been burgled in the past four months, raising fears that thieves are targeting them for easy cash.
Twenty-seven schools were burgled last month alone; normally, three or four schools a month report burglaries.
The main targets are petty cash from the
school office and tuck shop or equipment like computers from classrooms.
The head of the Henderson burglary squad, Sergeant Ross Hunter, said police were reviewing files from May looking for common features.
"In August, especially, we had such a spike that you would think someone or a group of people are targeting schools," he said. "The problem is, this not a victimless crime. They are ripping off poor kids."
Schools in West Auckland reported five burglaries in May, nine in June, 10 in July and 27 in August.
Two schools were hit by what appear to be planned attacks on their safes. In one, burglars used hacksaws to cut the school safe from its mounts before prising it open and dumping it in Huia Creek.
Sergeant Hunter said that while most schools had burglar alarms their buildings could be difficult to protect.
Schools were designed to be open to the community and some facilities were open to the public. "But the problem is, they also have extremely predicable routines.
"A burglar knows when people are likely to be there and when they are not."
He said police were reviewing their patrols around schools in an effort to catch burglars.
"We are also going back and looking at a number of people we have arrested recently for school burglaries to see if there are any links."
In 10 of the recent burglaries, the thieves had broken in but got away with nothing. In several, they had taken more than $10,000 of equipment, including computers and music gear.
Elsewhere in Auckland, school burglaries do not appear to have risen.
In Counties-Manukau, the number has fallen, from 444 in 1998-99 to 389 in 2000-2001.
