Constable Andrew Jamieson, a Crime Reduction Officer for South Aberdeenshire said:

"This years winter domestic housebreaking campaign ran from 8th December 2004 to 11th March 2005, with the theme 'Lights Out - You're Out' to promote home security. It involved Police Officers, Traffic Wardens and Special Constables identifying homes that were sitting in darkness and appearing to be unoccupied, or that were otherwise obviously vulnerable to housebreaking, and leaving a leaflet for the occupant to make them aware of these concerns. The leaflet provided guidance for the occupant on how to reduce the risk of their property being targeted."

Constable Jamieson also stated:

"Previous Operation Neighbourhood campaigns have been very successful, and once again the total number of reported break-ins and attempted break-ins to homes within the 2000 square miles of South Aberdeenshire was kept low. This years campaign saw only 30 homes broken into or an attempt made to break-in and over the past 5 years since the launch of Operation Neighbourhood, the annual figures for domestic housebreaking within South Aberdeenshire have been reduced by 40%.

"We appreciate that year-on-year it becomes harder to maintain the downward trend, but we thank the communities of South Aberdeenshire for their efforts in working with us, particularly the network of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes within the Command area. Together, we remain committed to reducing the opportunities for crime."

This year's campaign was sponsored by Community Planning Partnership within Aberdeenshire Council who assisted with the purchase of 300 timer light switches, which were distributed to victims of housebreaking and identified vulnerable members of the community.