Burglar alarm advice

[Mrs M]

Sorry to hear about that, you must be quite shaken up.
We don't have an alarm, our neighbours one goes off and as others have said is ignored.
We have sturdy composite doors, windows always locked and lights that come on if anything moves.
As said if they want to get in they will but hopefully these measures will make it too hard for them.
Hope you get something sorted out soon and don't feel too anxious X.

 

[Drago]

You want an intruder alarm, eh? If it's not monitored by a central station then don't bother.

A bit of research crossed my desk recently where a load of crims were quizzed, and visible police presence and intruder alarms came pretty low on the list for deterrent when they were considering acquisitive crime. CCTV didn't even make the list., and Smartwater came highest.

Sorry to hear what happened to you. See if your local nick still has a qualified crime prevention officer (don't let them just send round a PCSO to do the job, as proper CPO's are quite highly qualified). Failing that, get a reputable security firm to do a survey. You want deterrent, defence-in-depth, and target hardening. Deterrent is the hardest as what most ordinary Joes regard as a deterrent - such as CCTV - has been shown on multiple studies to have no such measurable effect on crime figures.

Good luck.

 

[Fnaar]

I phoned the (non-emergency line for the) police once, to tell them the burglar alarm on the building opposite was going off. I then had to endure 10 minutes of questions/useless info as to whether or not I wanted to make a complaint (I didn't), and the fact that if I didn't, then I could, and these were the procedures, and whether or not I deemed it to be a nuisance. In the end, I said "Look, I don't want to make a complaint, it isn't bothering me particularly, I'm just letting you know that possibly someone is breaking in and making off with stolen goods, just so that you can send someone round, and perhaps let the owners know. If someone has broken in, they've probably made off by now" ... and then I put the phone down! Never heard anything more about it.

 

[summerdays]

One down the road I now live on went off last week which was probably the first time since moving here, I eventually went out to look (7am on Sunday morning), but I couldn't see anything from the road and that's as much as I was going to do.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Best thing is to cultivate and get on with your neighbours. They'll be feeling vulnerable as well having heard of your burglary so now's a good time to start.
I don't think you need an expensive alarm, one from Wickes is fine. I got a solar powered one, dead easy to fit - just one wire from control box to siren and the PIRs can be moved around if you wish, so one can be in your garage, or your car for that matter. It can also work off a key fob. I think they are now about £150 at most.
As others have said, look at your locks etc as well.
Remember though, you are unlikely to be burgled again and don't let this upset your lifestyle because then the scrotes have won.

 

[Sbudge]

Really sorry to hear about your ordeal. We went through the same 'smash & grab' experience a few years ago. Loads of good advice in this thread already so I'll just add the extra bits we learned.
1. Extra locks are fine but make sure that the door itself is strong. We had one broken in two, it seemed heavy and solid but actually had a chipboard core!
2. A good CPO will also be able to show you cost effective measures that are highly effective like using dowling rods to secure a sash window for just a few pence.
3. Whilst there seem to be regulations regarding just how loud an external alarm can be the rules are more forgiving when it comes to any internal bells/sirens. A VERY loud extra alarm sounder indoors is actually really stressful and 'encourages' the chancers to think twice. We installed one in the hallway and it has proved it's worth once already.
4. Whilst conspicuous cameras can be a good idea it's probably best not to be the only one in your road with them, it can draw the wrong sort of attention.
5. It's not just passive devices like cameras that can be used remotely. You can trigger lights, music, all sorts. A little fettling with easily available software and you can do things like "If someone comes to the window, turn on light in bathroom", much easier than you think.
6. Above all, look very carefully at your insurance (and I do mean reading all the T&Cs). There's nothing worse than paying premiums for years then finding out you weren't covered because of some technicality.

Cheers & good luck

 

[Julia9054]

Thanks for all the advice. Feeling more furious than anything else.
First step is a better door - this one splintered like matchwood! Secondly, get the outside security lights working - we've only lived here 2 months - it was on my to do list. I have an old non working cctv camera somewhere, I'll stick that up as a dummy for starters whilst I research working ones. Not sure whether I'll get an alarm - mixed messages as to how much of a deterrent they are.
Thieves walked past iPad, iPhone, laptop and Garmin all in plain view as well as several musical instruments worth a lot more than the telly. Hard to believe that no one saw them walking down the road with a 48inch TV and thought to call the police.

 

[summerdays]

Maybe the phone and iPad are too trackable? I presume that they are easier to get rid of abroad? Whereas the TV is going to be for local disposal? Or maybe they don't have one!

When they broke into ours they didn't take much, but they did take our CD player. Now it had an interesting feature where it had started to open and close the CD drawer at random so I always took pleasure in knowing that someone bought a dodgy CD player off them and that we ended up with a new one without the additional feature. Still don't know why they took a Sand picture though....

 

[Julia9054]

They found 3 wallets in my son's room- all empty. Looked through 2 and dropped them on the bed and took the third. His bank card was in his pocket! Bizarre!

 

[postman]

Another option like wot we have got.Security gates covering back and front doors.

 

[Flying Dodo]

You want an intruder alarm, eh? If it's not monitored by a central station then don't bother.

A bit of research crossed my desk recently where a load of crims were quizzed, and visible police presence and intruder alarms came pretty low on the list for deterrent when they were considering acquisitive crime. CCTV didn't even make the list., and Smartwater came highest.

Sorry to hear what happened to you. See if your local nick still has a qualified crime prevention officer (don't let them just send round a PCSO to do the job, as proper CPO's are quite highly qualified). Failing that, get a reputable security firm to do a survey. You want deterrent, defence-in-depth, and target hardening. Deterrent is the hardest as what most ordinary Joes regard as a deterrent - such as CCTV - has been shown on multiple studies to have no such measurable effect on crime figures.

Good luck.

Funny you should say that. A few times when I've checked back on our CCTV to see why it's been triggered, I've seen pictures of different people walking up our drive at 2-3 am, looking up and spotting the red glow from the IR lamps on the numerous cameras and then walking away again.

 

[Drago]

But look where you live! It'll be a matter of time.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Probably an urban myth, but I like the story of the old boy that rang 999 to report burglars trying to get in his neighbours property, only to be told there were no Officers available. He phoned back a few minutes later to say 'don't bother with the Police, send an ambulance, I've shot them'.

A few minutes later, the Police were round at the property and arested the unharmed burglars. "I thought you said you'd shot them' they asked. 'I thought you said you had nobody available', he replied.

 

[classic33]

Thanks for all the advice. Feeling more furious than anything else.
First step is a better door - this one splintered like matchwood! Secondly, get the outside security lights working - we've only lived here 2 months - it was on my to do list. I have an old non working cctv camera somewhere, I'll stick that up as a dummy for starters whilst I research working ones. Not sure whether I'll get an alarm - mixed messages as to how much of a deterrent they are.
Thieves walked past iPad, iPhone, laptop and Garmin all in plain view as well as several musical instruments worth a lot more than the telly. Hard to believe that no one saw them walking down the road with a 48inch TV and thought to call the police.

Reported not one but three tv's being taken to an address, at two in the morning. Response from the call taker was it may just be someone moving house.
Address they were going to was a four roomed flat.

 

[Drago]

Probably an urban myth, but I like the story of the old boy that rang 999 to report burglars trying to get in his neighbours property, only to be told there were no Officers available. He phoned back a few minutes later to say 'don't bother with the Police, send an ambulance, I've shot them'.

A few minutes later, the Police were round at the property and arested the unharmed burglars. "I thought you said you'd shot them' they asked. 'I thought you said you had nobody available', he replied.

It's true, and he was arrested and put before the Court for making a false report and subsequently convicted. Not so funny now, but the ending never seems to be relayed with the rest of the tale.