This Wednesday, December 21 is the shortest day of the year. The sun sets at 4:39 p.m. generally, this period during which it is darker early is propitious to burglaries. On average, there are 30% more during the winter. To counter this, more and more residents are posting photos and videos on Facebook groups when they witness misdeeds or when they suspect something in their neighborhood.
A few days ago, a burglary took place in a butcher’s shop in Chimay at 2:30 am. The thieves broke into the automatic checkout of the trade. They left with 1500 euros. CCTV footage was shared on Facebook. The goal was to find the suspects as quickly as possible.
“We instinctively look to see what happened and then we think maybe it will help, but unfortunately they are really well camouflaged“, explains Aurora Buylebutcher shop manager.
More and more videos are posted on groups of citizens ofUN same locality created on Facebook. “A few days ago a car was smashed and in 30 minutes there was someone who had seen it and we were able to intercept the person who had done this“, explains a passerby.
But what can you really post on social media?
Be careful of abuses in the event of the dissemination of photos or videos on social networks, warns Armand throwsprincipal inspector at the Liège police – prevention service. “We can give burglary images obviously when people are not recognizable or we can not give images, but terrible: “Be careful, I was robbed”, and give some advice, because often there have been small imprudences. But from the moment the faces are recognizable, we cannot put them on social networks“, specifies Armand throws.
If you witness a robbery or assault, first call the police and file a complaint at the police station or online.