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Topic: Beware of thieves!

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lockie

08/7/2014 at 8:53am
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Quote: Originally posted by brianconwy on 07/7/2014
When we were burgled I think the wife had left the back door unlocked. If ithad been locked with the best lock in the world it wouldn't have made any difference as at my neighbours house they just smashed the double glazed panel in the door. luckily she was away on holiday as she was 94. My first thoughts were to get steel roller shutters on the back door and rear windows, but as the police said 'who wants to live in a fortress. I did buy a safe though.

Laminated glass prevents that. You can also get a very good window film that does the same job.
The problem is anything below 900mm high has to be toughened glass which is very easy to break if you know how.

An alarm limits the amount of time they get to rummage around as do internal door locks.

Its funny how so many will make an excuse for not upgrading or securing stuff and tell you how someone could get in another way but then do nothing about it.

Then theres always that quote of " if they want to get in they will get in anyway ".

Trust me no one wants to be victim to a burglary, ivel ost count of how many people i have seen devastated by one.Someone we know is now having trouble sleeping at night after her second one in a year.
She ignored my advice of an alarm after th first one as it meant her cats couldnt come and go as they pleased and now shes a total wreck mentally regretting that decision big time.

This is quite common too as they wait several monthes until they reckon the insurance has paid out and replaced stuff and they try again for the new shiney stuff.

All you have to do is make you house less attractive to burglers than the surrounding houses, harsh but true.

FriendOfOwls

08/7/2014 at 10:52am
Location: Severn Valley
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Quote: Originally posted by parmit on 08/7/2014
Julia You say about people reaching through the car windows to steal handbags. If I put mine on the seat of the car I fasten the seat belt through the handle.

That's really ingenious! I always keep my bag tucked under the seat, with a block to stop it coming out if I brake hard. I also cover things up with random old bags if I'm carrying anything home of value.

Can't be too careful!

FoO

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FriendOfOwls

08/7/2014 at 11:00am
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Our local police tell us the very best way to avoid burglary is to keep the house looking lived in. So we leave LED lights on in the kitchen and low-energy ones in bathroom and loo when we go out expecting to be back after dark. When we go away we do the same and our good neighbours come in to pull our curtains and collect the mail. If the neighbour's son is at home he parks his car on our drive. We always load the car behind closed gates as discreetly as possible. It all helps to make things look normal and busy and deter the opportunist. Nothing is foolproof, but headology can sometimes work as well as expensive security.

Mind, I have to be honest, if a burglar were to break in here, he would probably leave a humane donation! There's really nothing to nick!

FoO

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brianconwy

08/7/2014 at 2:51pm
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I think you have hit the nail on the head there. When we were burgled it was only the houses that were dark with nobody at home that they targeted. However good locks are on doors its the panels they usually batter in. A lad with a bit of a dodgy reputation from down the road told us that they don't like security cameras.

The last house we lived at I called the police because there was a burglar alarm that was going off and keeping me awake. They said they don't come out for them because they go off so often. Nobody else seemed to pay any attention.

If you are getting an alarm you may as well spend a bit extra and get one that is monitored on a contract.

They will go for the weakest link - so if you have a door that has a good lock on it they will smash it in unless it is very strong.

FriendOfOwls

08/7/2014 at 3:02pm
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Aye, but smashing is noisy. In a fairly quiet neighbourhood like ours, with lots of dogs, it would be plain stupid to make a hoo-hah of it. Lights, good locks, alarms, cameras, good neighbour surveillance, safes, vigilance and forethought all have a part to play. Nobody wants to live in a fortress, true, but it is sensible to think thief where home security is concerned.

FoO

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autopilot

08/7/2014 at 3:16pm
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Quote: Originally posted by FriendOfOwls on 08/7/2014
Aye, but smashing is noisy. In a fairly quiet neighbourhood like ours, with lots of dogs, it would be plain stupid to make a hoo-hah of it. Lights, good locks, alarms, cameras, good neighbour surveillance, safes, vigilance and forethought all have a part to play. Nobody wants to live in a fortress, true, but it is sensible to think thief where home security is concerned.

FoO

You would think wouldn't you, but many burglars are not the sharpest. Often they make a real noise even in the quietest area. Most opt for speed over stealth. You would be supprised how often they take place in the day time too. A lot of the time they just want your car keys.

brianconwy

08/7/2014 at 3:40pm
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A lot of them can think only of their next drug fix.

The first reaction after it happens is to go over the top. I thought of surrounding the back garden with firethorn hedges and steel shutters on the back door and windows but at the end of the day we don't have a lot of valuables to lose and they can go in the safe.

If you have UPVC doors there are usually only strips of plastic holding the panels in. Think what can withstand a sledgehammer. It might make a noise but on a stormy night will probably go unnoticed. A work colleague who has dogs has just been burgled and she lives in a very quiet place. Security lighting is cost effective but can be a nuisance for neighbours.

lockie

08/7/2014 at 8:23pm
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A lot of burglaries happen about 3-5 pm when its school time. More people are on the move at that time to collect the kids and busy mums will quite often just pull the door shut and not fully lock it as they are in a hurry to get up the school to collect the kids.

Thieves are aware of this.

If you want to secure a wooden door to prevent it being kicked in put a lock guard around the mortice lock and a london bar on the frame.Its a very effective low cost reinforcement.

Upvc needs a decent antisnap cylinder and needs to be fully locked with the key everytime you go out.

If you dont like fully locking a upvc door at night because of fire escapes etc then fit a pair of sash jammers. These are very effective and a thief will think the door is fully locked.

The other day i noticed one of the pound shop chains doing dummy dome cctv cameras.They looked quite real as long as you dont stick batteries in it to light the led.Real ones dont have the led.

I put one up on the side of my house and high up its hard to tell its fake.
Not bad for a quid.

brianconwy

08/7/2014 at 8:57pm
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A couple of these might deter them.

Our sweet little border terrier obviously didn't.

Jax365

10/7/2014 at 10:25am
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This thread is full of good advice! I shall be taking it on board!

Here's a funny one. My exBF always used to hide the remote for the tv when he went away, but always in a different place each time. When he got home he could never remember where he'd put it. I asked him why he didn't put it in the same place every time and he said it was to confuse the burglars!

Once he put it in the washing machine and then forgot, so it got washed along with the washing!!

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tentage

10/7/2014 at 1:06pm
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I think one might be sufficient, Brian ;)

parmit

10/7/2014 at 10:33pm
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We have got to be exceptionally security conscious at the moment as an illegal travellers site has been set up a couple of streets away from us.

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