Don't be a victim! (Household Security)

Member Name: SueMagee

Product:	Household Security
Date:	21/12/01 (431 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: .

Disadvantages: .

I live in a village and until a few years ago no one would have thought to lock their doors during the day unless they were actually going out. We were relaxed about security, but times have changed and not for the better. News of burglaries is commonplace and it's all too easy to become a crime statistic. Although the number of burglaries is falling it's the crime with the lowest detection rate.

It isn't entirely down to chance though. There are some things that you can do which might help to keep you out of the statistics. Some require an investment of time or money. Some just require effort or thought, but all could make a difference.

Fit a burglar alarm.

For an average-sized property this can cost as little as a few hundred pounds and is a proven deterrent. I was convinced about the need to have an alarm fitted when I realised that in our area one house in thirty seven which did not have an alarm was entered illegally each year, but where an alarm was fitted only one house in two hundred was burgled. Unfortunately the more houses around you that are fitted with an alarm the more your property becomes a ready target if you don't have one.

There are a few systems on the market which have the option of door chimes which are similar to those you find on the doors of smaller shops. This is useful as no one can come into the house without making any noise and can be sufficient in itself to deter a sneak thief.

Some insurance companies will give a reduction in premiums on house contents policies if your property is fitted with a burglar alarm. The actual requirements vary from company to company so if you are considering fitting an alarm it is worth asking your company about their requirements before going ahead. Never take up the offer of a free estimate from anyone canvassing door-to-door as it has been known for such people to be simply viewing the property with the intention of returning at a l
ater date to relieve you of some of your valuables. Be equally suspicious of anyone wanting to sell you something at the door. Ask if they have a peddler's licence and if they haven't, don't deal with them. A list of reputable burglar alarm companies will be available from the local Police, usually in the form of the local Crime Prevention Officer. It's always worthwhile asking who fitted their alarms at home! Remember too to have your alarm serviced regularly. My annual maintenance contract costs less than £60 a year, but provides considerable peace of mind.

Talk to the local Crime Prevention Officer

I asked the local Crime Prevention Officer to come and have a good look at our house and tell me what I could do to make it safer. The service was offered freely on the basis that the Police would prefer to give me advice to prevent a crime rather than deal with the aftermath of one. The CPO did say, though, that it was unusual for people to seek advice before they'd been burgled! The visit lasted for about half an hour and left me convinced of the need for action. One thing that did surprise me was that he didn't see our dogs as a safeguard, pointing out that a burglar was more likely to harm the dogs than to be put off by them.

Locks

Good mortice locks are essential on all doors and there should be further securing points such as bolts at some distance from the lock so that a crow-bar cannot be used to lever a door open at the corners. Another weak point can be the door jamb, which is often inadequately secured to the wall but this can be rectified by bolting the jamb to the wall at several points along its length with carriage bolts. Remember to consider not only doors to the house but also side doors to garages and other outbuildings where tools are often stored which could be used to break into the house.

Windows should also be fitted with locks and / or bolts. Please remember to rem
ove the keys from the window locks! They can be placed nearby provided that they are out of sight both from inside and outside the house. I mentioned to the CPO that I was worried that this could cause problems in case of a fire as it would be difficult to break a double-glazed window. He told me that the weakest point was the corner of a window and in case of emergency it was always better to try and break a window from the corner rather than the centre.

Beading

There is little point in carefully removing keys from locked windows if the beading can be removed from the outside and the glass lifted out. On good quality modern windows this cannot be done but it is possible on some older windows. The beading can be glued into place and this could prove to be a worthwhile investment.

Security Lighting

Burglars do not like to be visible so a permanent light, possibly on a dusk to dawn sensor can prove to be a considerable deterrent, particularly if it is placed at the front of the house. A casual burglar will look for a house in darkness and even if a light, which is activated by movement, comes on after the burglar has approached the house it does not act as a sufficient deterrent. The decision has been made and to turn away from a property simply because of a light coming on would look suspicious to a casual observer.

Lights which are activated by movement have their place as a backup on other parts of the property. Remember to set the lights so that they stay on for the shortest possible time. A burglar approaching a property where a light comes on will hide and wait to see if the householder appears. If he/she does and doesn't spot the burglar the chances are that they will retreat into the house, generally muttering something about "bl**dy cats" and the burglar is then left to do what he came to do, with the benefit of floodlights if the light has been set to stay on for a considerable time. If on
the other hand the light keeps flicking on and off the householder is going to be aware that there is more of a problem than just a cat having wandered through the garden.

Sheds and Garages

Don't stint on the type of lock which you put on the garage door. It should be as good as the one you put on the house door. If you have a window in the garage make certain that no tools or ladders which could be used to get into the house are visible. A piece of net curtaining over the window can ensure that tools cannot be seen even if they are not put away. Make certain too that the window is secure and the ladders are paddlocked.

Sheds are often quite flimsy structures and it is simple to break into them to get at tools. The key which comes with them is generally of poor standard and the lock is easily pickable. It's worth using this as a backup and fixing a padbolt - a bolt secured by a padlock - as the main lock. Make certain that the padlock is a substantial one. Put wire mesh over the windows on the inside so that there's no easy entry even if a window is broken. Are the hinges visible? If the screws holding the hinges to the shed are visible the simplest entry is going to be to unscrew the hinges. Replace some of the screws with security screws, which can be screwed in but not unscrewed. You don't need to replace all of the screws, just sufficient to make unscrewing the others a pointless exercise.

Side Passages

If you have a side passage entrance to your house fir a high lockable gate so that a burglar doesn't have access to the back of the house where he can break into the house without being seen.

Car keys

Where do you leave them? Please don't tell me that you leave them on the window sill so that they're easy to pick up when you go out! One of the commonest crimes in this area at the moment is the theft of car keys by a sneak thief with the eventual target bein
g the vehicle that's parked in the drive or out on the road. There have even been incidents where a bendy wire has been poked through a letter box to hook keys off a table or a convenient hook. Car keys, wallets and handbags should be left well out of sight and in a secure place.

The safest place to leave your car is locked and in a locked garage. I was told a little while ago that of the last thousand cars stolen in this area only two had been from locked garages. Yes, I know it's a useful place to store all that junk but it could be the difference between finding the car where you left it and spending a lot of time making an insurance claim.

Hedges and boundaries

Do you have a nice big hedge in front of your house? Is it there to give you some privacy? The trouble is that it also gives a burglar privacy as well! The Police recommend that a hedge in front of a house should be no more than three feet or a meter tall. This way anyone attempting to break into the house is clearly visible from the road. Boundary fences should be solid and well maintained. If you have boundary hedging opt for the prickly type. It's a very determined burglar who'll push his way through a holly hedge! Consider planting the same sort of thing under vulnerable windows. I have chaenomales (Japonica) under my front window. It has spikes on it that are reminiscent of surgical scalpels and the Crime Prevention Officer drooled over it!

Post code your valuables

Mark your valuables with your postcode followed by your house number. This way you stand some chance of getting them back if they are stolen. Special pens are available from stationers and also from the Crime Prevention Officer. Photograph valuable pieces of jewellery or collectables and store the photographs away from the valuables. Keep a detailed inventory of such things. I've left a record of my (few) valuables with my friend and in return I hold her l
ist. If you have a bicycle postcode it or consider having it micro-chipped, as it's very difficult to identify an individual bike. Notices are available from the Crime Prevention Officer that you can stick on your door which shows that your possessions are post coded.

Neighbourhood Watch

Are you a member of Neighbourhood Watch? If you're not, please join or approach your Crime Prevention Officer for help in setting a group up. Yes, I know it's got an image of twitching net curtains but it's down to what the individual group makes it. Some groups are very sociable; others are rather business-like. I'm a member of a group that looks after each other's houses when there's no one there. We close curtains at night and leave a light on, and then open the curtains again in the morning. We leave some rubbish in the dustbins and see that they're put out for collection. A check is made that post is not left hanging out of letter boxes, or building up in a pile behind a glass door. We even hang washing out on lines when people are on holiday and see that the grass doesn't grow too long. It sounds like a lot of work, but we've become a closer community over the last few years. It would save the tragedy that happened to a couple in a nearby town not long ago. The house was up for sale and one day a removal van drew up and began to load the contents of the house. One or two of the neighbours thought somewhat uncharitably that it was poor that they'd not been told that the couple were actually going that day. They weren't of course. They were being burgled.

Going Away?

If you're going on holiday leave the house looking as though it's occupied. Leave toys on a visible floor and a few pots on the draining board. At Christmas have some decorations up even if you won't be at home for the celebrations. (Thanks to Nikkisly for that last point!) Leave some lights on timer
switches to mimic the lighting when you are at home. Don't have your address visible on your suitcase.

Just one or two of these points could save a lot of heartache, because it isn't what you lose, it's the fact that you've become a victim.

Summary: