Brazen burglar breaks in during dance lesson

Muddy footprints show a brazen intruder ransacked a bedroom while children had dance lessons only metres away.

As the children danced, the man went through the room stealing jewellery and cash.

He escaped through a ranchslider when homeowner Kaushal Dhar tracked the footprints to a locked bedroom door.

The early evening raid in Dannemora on Sunday was the latest to strike the homes of Indian migrants living within a short distance of each other.

Another resident, Shyam Mathur, said jewellery, cash and a camera were taken during a raid on his home this month while his family was sitting down to dinner.

The thief locked himself in the master bedroom but was disturbed by Mr Mathur's 4-year-old daughter, who went to get something from the room.

"She didn't realise someone was inside, she just found it locked and started banging it.

"Everyone is scared somebody is going to walk in on him one day and then there is going to be trouble," said Mr Mathur.

He knew three other families, including the Dhars, who had been robbed in a similar way.

Members of seven families gathered at the Dhar home on Monday night to meet Manukau City councillor Dick Quax.

"The cheek of the person who broke into Mr Dhar's house was incredible," said Mr Quax.

"The whole family was home and they had some friends' children around there taking dance lessons."

Mr Quax told the Herald the residents were agitated about the level of crime in the area.

He said there were not enough police to cover the area covering Howick, Pakuranga, Botany, Clevedon, Otara and other areas east of the Southern Motorway.

He said the area had one sworn police officer for every 1260 residents, compared with the national average of one officer to every 550 people.

"I'm trying to bring some focus on the problem. I've spoken to police and they confirm it is a huge problem and they have started a special burglary squad [in the eastern area]."

Mr Quax said only 10 per cent of burglaries were resolved. The area suffered 40 burglaries last week.

He has written to Police Minister George Hawkins to point out that the area was "grossly under-resourced" and to ask for more police.

Mr Quax said the local police were hardworking and did their best with the resources available.

Area commander Inspector Neil Adams said his area was undergoing phenomenal growth and police were looking at their resources.

The Flatbush area had a projected population increase of 40,000 people, he said.

"I do realise that our area is under-resourced and we need to work towards strategies to recognise the amount of growth that's occurring and to ensure that policing adequately meets the demand of the increasing population."

The Counties Manukau district had a target burglary resolution of 12 per cent.

It was rare for burglars to target homes with people there, he said. His staff would meet residents to discuss security and watch schemes.