SAFETY - Home Security
Background
If you have ever been burgled, you will know exactly the feeling you get when you realise a total stranger has broken into your house, rummaged through everything from your treasured possessions to your underwear drawer and stolen things which were yours or your families. It's a truly dreadful feeling and often living in your house is never quite the same again. All too often what is stolen is of sentimental value, like jewellery left to you by your Grandmother or favourite Aunt, and is simply irreplaceable.
We live in an area where crime, especially domestic burglary is fairly low, and over the last few years this type of offence has shown a marked downward trend, but as most crime is committed by criminals who are opportunists, there are a lot of things we can do to ensure we don't become a victim.
The Home Office has a large part of its web site dedicated to home security, and that says that 1 in 5 burglars don't even have to use force. They get in through an unlocked door or an open window.
As we said in the section on car crime, the more difficult you can make it for a criminal, the more likely they are to go elsewhere. If you think about it from a criminal's point of view you will see what we mean. Imagine you are a burglar and you are looking at three houses. You know all three are unoccupied.
House 1 - has security lights and a burglar alarm. The owner has shut all the windows before going out.
House 2 - has a good quality front door with a mortise and a dead lock. You can also see it has good window locks. Again the windows are shut.
House 3 - has good locks on the front door, poor locks on the back door and as an added bonus has open window around the back.
No prizes for guessing which one to pick.
So what simple steps can you take to beat the burglar?
Here are a few helpful tips:
- If you are going out, even for just a few moments, close the windows and lock the front door.
- Make sure you have good quality locks fitted on windows and doors. Main access doors, (front door, back door) should have at least two locks unless they are a uPVC unit in which case they should a main lock operated with a key and sliding edge locks operated by lifting the handle.
- Consider investing in an alarm system. Nothing deters an opportunist thief quite like an alarm box on the outside of a house and many home insurers now offer discounted premiums for properties with alarms. You need not use a commercial company as many DIY stores sell alarm systems that any moderately competent DIY can install.
- Think about forming a Neighbourhood Watch.
Neighbourhood Watch schemes are a proven way to reduce all manner of crime in your area. You can find all you need to know about Neighbourhood Watch and how to set up a scheme in the "Neighbourhood Watch" section of BEST Advice. If you are already a member of a Watch scheme, use the stickers you can get to advertise this to a potential burglar. They may have missed the street signs, but if they see a NW sticker in your front window, they will be sure to get the message. - Don't leave things like wallets, mobiles, laptops or car keys in places where they are visible through a window. Any burglar will "chance their arm" to get them.
- Don't advertise the fact your house is empty, If you are away ask a trusted neighbour to make sure free newspapers are removed from the letter box and remember to cancel the milk if you have it delivered.
- If you are out at night, invest in a time switch and plug a light into it.
- Post code your valuables.
All too often the Police catch an active burglar and they will admit many offences, sometimes hundreds. Sometimes the Police recover property from these offences only to have a really difficult time trying to trace an owner. One way you can help the Police is to postcode your valuable stuff.
To do this you use an ultra-violet pen. These write just like ordinary pens but the writing is invisible to the naked eye as they use a special ink that reacts under UV light. All Police stations have UV lamps so when suspected stolen property comes into their possession they can scan it under the UV and see if it has been marked.
All you do is write your house number and your post code on the item and the property is uniquely marked and identifiable to your house. The Police simply trace the post code and you and your stolen property are back together.
The marker pens are available at shops like WH Smith and other good stationers and don't cost very much. Most also come with a sticker you can put in your front window so any potential burglar knows your property is marked.
Professional Advice
Another thing you can do is get a professional to look over your property to make sure that it is as secure as it can be. The local Police Crime Prevention Officer can offer you this service, which is free. The advice you get is impartial and often the improvements recommended and simple and cheap to make. Details on how to contact your local CPO are given at the end of this section.
Because of people's fear of crime, there are now many private companies who will also come around and give you advice on home security and make the required improvements for you, but remember they will charge for their services, so shop around before you make your final choice, and always ensure that the company you pick is established and check to see if they are registered to offer their services.
Useful Websites
With so much information available, we could literally fill all of BEST Advice up with home security advice, and space simply won't allow that, but as always, there is no end of help available on the Internet.
Three very good sites are:
The Home Office site contains an enormous amount of security information, ranging from window locks to full alarm systems and also has diagrams showing the best places to fits locks so they work to their maximum potential. All of the three sites listed are very good, and the Home Office one is excellent, so we really recommend you use our links and pay one or all of them a visit.
What if you are burgled?
Finally, if the unthinkable happens and you do receive a visit from a burglar, what should you do?
If you come home and find that you have been burgled, leave the property and call the Police. Avoid touching anything as forensic evidence, like fingerprints and DNA, is a major weapon the Police can use to catch the offender. Wait for the Police to arrive.
If you are in the house and you hear an intruder downstairs?
How you react to this is a personal choice, and to some degree depends on the circumstances, for example, whether you are alone or not.
The Home Office web site suggests:
You could make a noise and hope it scares the burglar off, or you might prefer to keep quiet and hope the burglar doesn’t come into the room you’re in. Many people now have a phone in their bedroom. But even if you do, take your mobile to bed with you. If someone breaks in, you can use it to call the police even if they’ve disconnected your normal phone.
(Reproduced by kind permission of the Home Office)
Remember in the Fire Safety section we recommended you take your mobile with you when you went to bed? There's another good reason.
Like many things, home security is one of those where on ounce of prevention will always outweigh a ton of cure.
To get advice about a home security check with Bedfordshire Police, call their non-emergency contact number, tell the operator where you live and ask to be put through to the area crime prevention unit. The non-emergency number is: 01234 841212.