Burglary & Home Security

[Meridian]

No. You said move to a better area. No mention of crime levels. Your statement implied better areas have fewer burglaries. This is not the case. Burglars will target better areas for the reasons I've already stated.

Er, no. Burglars tend to target the areas they live in. Yes, there are burglars who do specialise in rich areas, but these make the news. Nobody gives a **** about poor people being robbed, so it doesn't get reported. So anyone reading Mein Kampf the Daily Mail gets the idea that it's the middle classes that get hit the most. It isn't; it's the poor. Burglars hit areas they know well, so they can tell whether householders are in or not (car is not at the front), where the escape routes are, where they can break in and not be seen etc. And burglars are poor, or they wouldn't be burglars. So they hit poor people.

Oh, and burglars who find a house with reasonable goodies in will usually return about three months later because the stuff is porbbaly insured, and the replacement stuff will be in by then. Hence multiple attacks on the same place.

 

[Dis86]

Er, no. Burglars tend to target the areas they live in. Yes, there are burglars who do specialise in rich areas, but these make the news. Nobody gives a **** about poor people being robbed, so it doesn't get reported. So anyone reading Mein Kampf the Daily Mail gets the idea that it's the middle classes that get hit the most. It isn't; it's the poor. Burglars hit areas they know well, so they can tell whether householders are in or not (car is not at the front), where the escape routes are, where they can break in and not be seen etc. And burglars are poor, or they wouldn't be burglars. So they hit poor people.

Oh, and burglars who find a house with reasonable goodies in will usually return about three months later because the stuff is porbbaly insured, and the replacement stuff will be in by then. Hence multiple attacks on the same place.

They definitely don't typically target the areas they live in! Simple rule is 'don't **** in your own nest'. They ain't gonna risk being recognised by people that know them or easily being tracked back home.

"Confused.com has revealed the burglar's 'code of conduct' in its latest research. One burglar said: "No, you never would do it in your own neighbourhood."

Another added: "Within the ½ mile radius of our home we wouldn't burgle, we wouldn't do anything like that.""

"The research confirmed that as well as hitting more upmarket areas, burglars will often choose a property that gives them an easy chance to enter."

 

[Jamauk]

Shotgun?

 

[teaboy5]

Here at the minute the biggest issue is gangs going on the Rob from across the border. They hit a number of houses fast and head back down south were they can't be chased.

 

[Semple]

Er, no. Burglars tend to target the areas they live in. Yes, there are burglars who do specialise in rich areas, but these make the news. Nobody gives a **** about poor people being robbed, so it doesn't get reported. So anyone reading Mein Kampf the Daily Mail gets the idea that it's the middle classes that get hit the most. It isn't; it's the poor. Burglars hit areas they know well, so they can tell whether householders are in or not (car is not at the front), where the escape routes are, where they can break in and not be seen etc. And burglars are poor, or they wouldn't be burglars. So they hit poor people.

Why would a burglar target a poor household unless they suspect drugs etc would be in there. You'd be less likely find cash/jewellery/expensive electronics in poor households, so wouldn't be worth their while.

 

[h4rm0ny]

No. You said move to a better area. No mention of crime levels. Your statement implied better areas have fewer burglaries. This is not the case. Burglars will target better areas for the reasons I've already stated.

Oh do we have to go through these word games every time? There's nothing worse than a pedant who is wrong in their pedantry. What makes a better area? Lower crime. By definition moving to "a better area" means moving somewhere with lower crime. Do you not realise crime is a dominant factor in house prices?

They definitely don't typically target the areas they live in! Simple rule is 'don't **** in your own nest'. They ain't gonna risk being recognised by people that know them or easily being tracked back home.

"Confused.com has revealed the burglar's 'code of conduct' in its latest research. One burglar said: "No, you never would do it in your own neighbourhood."

Another added: "Within the ½ mile radius of our home we wouldn't burgle, we wouldn't do anything like that.""

"The research confirmed that as well as hitting more upmarket areas, burglars will often choose a property that gives them an easy chance to enter."

Yeah, that doesn't match up with my own experience and your logic is flawed. Not robbing in your own street doesn't mean that the street you do rob in is automatically a posh one. People from estate A go and rob estate B who rob estate C who rob estate A. Poor areas are subject to more crime, feel free to look at local crime indexes.

Why would a burglar target a poor household unless they suspect drugs etc would be in there. You'd be less likely find cash/jewellery/expensive electronics in poor households, so wouldn't be worth their while.

Selling your loot doesn't get you a reasonable proportion of what its worth. Selling a cheap Blu-ray player? "I'll give yer a fiver". Selling a high end two-hundred quid UHD player? "I'll give yer a fiver." Selling a £400 Onkyo AVR? "What's that, nah don't want it. Alright, a fiver." High-end burglary is the minority. Most is getting together a little cash for booze or drugs or to pay off someone you owe money to and get them off your back for a bit. Or maybe this month's rent. We're not talking specialists here. It's opportunistic, it's local and 8/10 times its crowbar open the patio door and do a quick run around. When I got burgled by someone they took a few coats, a watch and iirc, a pair of trainers. Plenty of poor households have jewellery and electronics that are expensive enough. They probably shouldn't have spent the money on those things... but they did.

 

[Narj]

I suggest a clever set of traps devised by a young child to foil these rotters.

 

[Meridian]

Why would a burglar target a poor household unless they suspect drugs etc would be in there. You'd be less likely find cash/jewellery/expensive electronics in poor households, so wouldn't be worth their while.

Because the police might actually investigate if a better-off person gets done over? Someone who has important friends. And probably security? And where the burglar might stand out as obviously not from this area? People here seem to be confusing "I haven't heard about it" with "it doesn't happen", which was part of my point.

As for the "don't **** in your own nest" argument someone else was advancing, I'll remind you that poor areas are over half a mile wide, and usually border each other. They may not do over their own street, but it's still the nearby poor areas that get hit.

As h4rm0ny correctly points out, the burglary game is volume, not margin, because it's all profit to the burglar. Most "expensive electronics" are left behind, because they are too heavy. Purely anecdotal I know, but in my case it was two laptops (conveniently already in bags), a digital camera setup (also in a bag), two bottles of whisky (still in boxes, so easy to sell on) and money. The bedroom drawers had all been opened to look for jewelry. But left behind were the high-end stereo, the TV, the PVR, Blu-ray, and two computers with three high-end monitors. All too heavy. Burglars usually come with NOTHING, so they can't get accused of "going equipped", and steal bin liners from the house to carry stuff, or else use cases from the house. It needs to be light, not valuable.

 

[Mucky_Pup]

I have fitted higher security door handles, and fitted anti-snap, anti-bump, and anti-pick eurocylinder locks to my house. The standard handles that come with most multipoint lock doors are made from shockingly thin metal and easily snapped with a set of pipe grips, which gives someone easier access to snap a regular eurocylinder lock, then all you need is a screwdriver to turn the cam in the lock and unlock the door, pretty quietly.

 

[LabR@t]

Big dog >*

 

[Dis86]

Oh do we have to go through these word games every time? There's nothing worse than a pedant who is wrong in their pedantry. What makes a better area? Lower crime. By definition moving to "a better area" means moving somewhere with lower crime. Do you not realise crime is a dominant factor in house prices?



Yeah, that doesn't match up with my own experience and your logic is flawed. Not robbing in your own street doesn't mean that the street you do rob in is automatically a posh one. People from estate A go and rob estate B who rob estate C who rob estate A. Poor areas are subject to more crime, feel free to look at local crime indexes..

Hey it's you! Oh and your wrong again. Crime is not the only metric for what makes a nice area. Far from it. So...oops?

Burglary is not the only type of crime. Feel free to look at local crime indices.

Nice try though.

 

[Skorpion]

Build a moat and fill with crocodiles

 

[h4rm0ny]

Purely anecdotal I know, but in my case it was two laptops (conveniently already in bags), a digital camera setup (also in a bag), two bottles of whisky (still in boxes, so easy to sell on) and money. The bedroom drawers had all been opened to look for jewelry. But left behind were the high-end stereo, the TV, the PVR, Blu-ray, and two computers with three high-end monitors. All too heavy. Burglars usually come with NOTHING, so they can't get accused of "going equipped", and steal bin liners from the house to carry stuff, or else use cases from the house. It needs to be light, not valuable.

Yep. One time when I got burgled, my computer was right there in the room where other items were stolen from. Neither the computer itself nor the monitor were touched. Though the burglar did steal my sports bag in which he carried off my coats. The burglar (because he'd previously cased the building and I'd met him) did indeed show up with nothing. We had a back door which didn't shut properly and which the landlord hadn't fixed. So he came in and opportunistically grabbed what he could and what he could sell. It was also a poor area and he was local because he was done for rape a few months on and we recognized him in the paper.

I have since moved to a better area.

I have fitted higher security door handles, and fitted anti-snap, anti-bump, and anti-pick eurocylinder locks to my house. The standard handles that come with most multipoint lock doors are made from shockingly thin metal and easily snapped with a set of pipe grips, which gives someone easier access to snap a regular eurocylinder lock, then all you need is a screwdriver to turn the cam in the lock and unlock the door, pretty quietly.

Good advice. I think I should look into that as well. I've also considered getting keypad locks as I'm quite forgetful and have been known to lock myself out.

 

[mattyg]

Home Automation for lights is a good Idea too.. I've set Smartthings to turn on lights at semi random times. You can also get a light that will mimic the appearance of a tv being on.

 

[Jamauk]

I've had a couple around where I live. Very amateur chancers really, trying car door handles. About nine years ago I had someone climb over the fence, turn the CCTV camera round and tried the back door and walking out through the gate, completely oblivious to the fact there are a couple of other cameras facing the back door and other side of the gate, got a couple of shots that were handed directly to the police who confirmed they had seen him in the area before, I don't know if anything more came of this after that but it gave the police something to show to others in the community how proactive they are being by getting a DVD containing pictures of someone!

 

[edscdk]

Why would a burglar target a poor household unless they suspect drugs etc would be in there. You'd be less likely find cash/jewellery/expensive electronics in poor households, so wouldn't be worth their while.

Most "poor" people have playstation pc's laptops smart phones

 

[edscdk]

Years ago we had someone (i think) trying to break into the shed the dog went mental chased him, he tried to hop the fence and it collapsed... The dog proceeded to chase him over next doors garden as well .. I doubt the dog bit him but hopefully he got hurt when the fence collapsed

 

[DampCat]

All you can do is make your house less appealing than your neighbours. Everyone has a different opinion on what makes a house a target so you're never going to get an exact response, unless you ask the guy who is doing it.

I lean towards opportunistic thievery. Guy goes out with the plan to rob something, spots a particularly easy house and goes for it. I don't think it's like the movies where he plans for weeks to rob a particular house.

Then again maybe it is.

I'd personally replace doors with rockdoors or similar, locks with ultions (proceed to open ocuk can of worms) and throw some CCTV up with the hopes of catching the scrotes. I have a nest cam hidden by the front door facing down the hallway just in case they're stupid enough to reveal their face after gaining entry.

Although honestly I'd have moved away after the 2nd time. I couldn't live under that kind of fear.

 

[Meridian]

I have fitted higher security door handles, and fitted anti-snap, anti-bump, and anti-pick eurocylinder locks to my house. The standard handles that come with most multipoint lock doors are made from shockingly thin metal and easily snapped with a set of pipe grips, which gives someone easier access to snap a regular eurocylinder lock, then all you need is a screwdriver to turn the cam in the lock and unlock the door, pretty quietly.

This is not a 1920s novel. Burglars do not, and pretty much have done, pick locks. They either hop in through an opening that wasn't secured properly, or heave a heave object through a window. Again, "going equipped" is a serious thing, so burglars do not carry tools, except occasionally innocuous things like pliers. They find a brick/rock etc nearly, and use it to break a window. Patios doors are best becaue the law says that they have to made from toughened glass, so they craze over and are then easy to kick out and no chance of cuts, which would leave DNA behind.

 

[Malevolence]

All you can do is make your house less appealing than your neighbours.