Eagle-eye view of burglaries

• BURGLARY SERIES - OVERVIEW

Tim Briggs spent eight years as a police helicopter pilot and he saw plenty of burglaries unfold beneath him.

"Burglaries are a daily thing for the Eagle crew and the helicopter is called to thousands of burglaries each year.

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• Why thieves prey on their own communities

"The Eagle orbits and scans every inch of every property with night vision equipment in the vicinity of a burglary.

"When Delta [dog squads] arrives at a burglary scene and starts talking to Eagle, things really start to happen.

"House alarms go off, car alarms sound, motion sensor lighting is activated, it's all going off as the offenders make their way through properties trying to avoid the camera in the helicopter and the dogs' noses.

"Sometimes we would track for over an hour and travel distances of roughly 4-5km and successfully capture burglars running on foot.

"There are a lot more burglaries than most people think, mind boggling in fact.

"My advice is to up your security and make it as hard as possible for burglars to get into your property."