Dubai: Dubai Police is all set to increase its patrol units — specialised in monitoring residential areas — to further curb burglaries, especially during summer.

A comprehensive study plan has been implemented to do away with robberies in residential areas especially after some suspects took advantage of the summer season — when most families are away on holiday — to carry out burglaries, Lieutenant Colonel Jamal Al Jallaf, Deputy Director of the General Department for Crime Monitoring at Dubai Police, said.

"We urge the public to register online for our free-of-charge service. The applicants provide details of the day they are leaving the country and when they are expected to be back... during this time we send a patrol unit to monitor the area and check on the house on a daily basis to ensure it wasn't robbed," he said.

Since the launch of the service in 2006, not a single registered house has been robbed, Lt. Col Al Jallaf said.

In the third quarter of 2008, 107 residences were robbed during the summer holidays while the figure dropped to 60 during the same period in 2009, he added.

During the first quarter of this year, 68 robberies took place. Of this, 26 robberies took place in villas, 22 in residential apartments, and one robbery each in a traditional Arabic house and a labour camp.

"The majority of these thefts are committed by illegals [suspects without residency visas] or infiltrators. Then comes employees within the household such as the housemaid or the gardener," he said.

There are many loopholes in the way owners secure their residences while on vacation, from leaving the window of a room open to hiding expensive items in the kitchen, or leaving their car parked outside their house for many weeks — a clear indication for a thief that the house is unattended to.

Of the recent robbery cases, one involved a millionaire's house. A window had been left open by the residents of the villa while they were away. Many expensive items were stolen including a mobile phone worth Dh60,000.

Another case involved a thief who broke into a villa and stole the owner's handbag which was hidden in the kitchen, Lt. Col Al Jallaf said.

"Through our services we aim to assist the public on how to better secure their residences," he said, adding that 90 per cent of the robberies occurred due to negligence.