POLICE officers in Essex are trying to predict crimes before they happen.

The number of burglaries generally increase in November so Essex Police is trying to combat this by looking at previous trends to predict future ones.

More resources will then be put in those areas where the crimes often take place to try and beat the burglars.

Last year the technique achieved a ten per cent drop.

Chief Superintendent Carl O’Malley, area commander for north Colchester, said: “We launched Op Insight on October 1 last year and up until the end of September this year it had resulted in 823 fewer break-ins.

"Traditionally we see a rise in break-ins through autumn into winter but last year we saw a fall and I want to continue that trend. We aim to do that by continuing to refine Op Insight.”

See the full story and more on burglary trends in Colchester in Monday's Gazette.