Alarm mines.
Had the local head of neighbourhood watch visit yesterday evening with a letter about a recent burglary very close to my home, very very close and jewelry was taken he said!
So obviously wanting to protect my family (and watches!) what is the best deterrent to a burglar?
I plan on getting some app based cameras but times are moving fast with tech like this so any suggestions on good setups is welcome, I also have Ralphie (miniature Schnauzer) that hears everything and lets us know if something is not right but it's the times we're out that concerns me..
To be burgled is devastating and I know my lad would be really affected if something happened like this so I feel I need to secure everything up and use a good proven deterrent.
Suggestions welcome with thanks..
Alarm mines.
Shotgun blank trip wire alarm and
big or powerful dogs as above
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Lights and plenty of them. I know it sounds obvious but have motion detected lights and CCTV will deter a lot of them.
Make your house hard to break into but easy to steal from. Once they’re in, (God Forbid), let them take what they want quickly and easily. Keep car keys, a small amount of cash and a couple of token bits of jewellery in plain view on the ground floor. Consider a deterrent such as mace spray at the side of your bed should they decide to start up the stairs.
Miniature schnauzer you say.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Thanks for all the quick replies everyone, I see the legal bit was ignored! Keep em coming, perhaps we can all gain something from this advice.
Yes, not the biggest most vicious dog in the world but very protective of his home and us and can certainly bark the house down if needed!
A dog, good lighting and gravel.
At work we have 2 internal sounders, when that alarm goes off they seem to fry my brain can't think straight. When we move we are having them fitted in the house and garage.
I have an alarm which dials our phones if it is triggered and two camera systems, both of which also trigger a phone alert if they sense motion.
Was sitting in the lounge with the missus when this lit up on my phone!!
Guy was trying to prise open my garage door with a commercial tyre lever!
Unfortunately they (3 others in car seen on neighbours cctv) were gone by the time I ran out. Police came out but couldn't find them although they did take a copy of the video. Van robbed of £1k worth of tools same night 500 yds away.
Fortunately the doors on my garage have an anti-jemmy bar across the top of the door and both doors were screwed to the wooden frame with 3inch screws as we had recently moved in and I hadn't had the chance to secure them a better way
My advice, make it obvious you have security measures, alarm boxes cameras etc. and back it up with physical security (locks etc) as well. Some divs like this guy will always try but most will look for an easier target.
ook
Hoods/balaclavas, they don’t seem to worry about lights or cctv. I think you need lots of noise once detected and make it as bloomin’ difficult as you can to get in so they need time, to make a lot of noise, specialist equipment or skills. Think the dog is the best idea.
That's pretty scary oldoakknives sitting in your lounge and seeing that is going on outside!
App based cameras are good and I think I'll invest in some when I understand them better, but as its been said some burglars just do not give a damn about cameras. Its hard because you dont really want to go and fit your house like fort knox but it's a good deterrent having lots of security on show..
Would anyone know the ramifications of using Mace spray on an intruder in your house? personally I would use it first and worry about the consequences after but it's interesting to know how the police would see it..
The answer is simple - a monitored alarm system. When we lived in town I had an ADT one put in - all the large houses around us were hit during the twelve years we were there, some more than once. We were never touched.
A decent monitored system just makes the target unnecessarily hard for them and they tend to go elsewhere.
There are stats to back up my assertion available.
So clever my foot fell off.
I used to have the shotgun mine on my garage door. I was followed home one night in my cosworth and they came back that night to steal it. They gave up for some reason after cropping the gate chain and breaking the garage door open.
I fitted the mine on the door after to help alert me to any intrusion. I can confirm it’s quite loud as I forgot about it a couple of times! The bang would set my car alarm off too.
One thing everyone should keep by their bed is a powerful torch. You might think that’s odd but you try going at someone if they’re shining a bright torch at you. Probably going off on a tangent as we’re talking deterrent.
Personally I think we should be aloud whatever weapons we can as long as we don’t take them off of our property. Pepper spray, taser, etc
I looked into this a while back, I seem to remember that from a stats point of view living on a cul-de-sacs beats anything you can actually do to your home. Too many eyes and they don't like that the only exit can be blocked with ease.
The majority of burglaries are still done by opportunists, so as has been mentioned before, obvious signs of a powerful dog and a gravel drive/path are very good deterrents.
A noisy dog, a monitored alarm system, strong door and window locks (3 star diamond approved), double glazing with internal beading, enough PIR outside lights and cameras. Opportunists will go find an easier property to try than yours, if you're targeted it's a different kettle of fish!
But yes, target hardening is the key - doors, window, visible alarm... Anything that shows that getting into your property will be hard work.
[QUOTE=anz3001;4798922]They don’t have a legal mace, pepper or CS. They are all section 5 weapons.
That's S 5 (1) (b) of the Firearms Act 1968, and is a prohibited weapon subject to mandatory sentencing, probably imprisonment. That's just for possessing it. Depending on the circumstances, it's use would arguably be more proportionate than a baseball bat, but as a responsible law abiding home owner, you would probably be in more trouble than the burglar. Work that out.
To the OP, was the nearby burglary during the day, or overnight? Lots are during daytime as the house is empty with both people at work. If your Police force (service?) has a crime prevention officer try speaking to them, or your local PCSO, for advice.
The basis advice is make your house less inviting to a burglar than your neighbours. Sad but that is the reality. So trellis on fencing. Plants like pyracantha to make a barrier where required. An alarm system. Cameras. Have a radio come on whilst you are out. Ditto lights for night if you are out. A safe for any valuables you really don’t want the hassle of replacing or which have sentimental value. Make sure rubbish bins are put back as soon as you can after collection. Don’t leave post hanging out the letter box. Lock windows locks and make sure doors are locked and both have approved locks. Don’t leave expensive things out on show through windows. Pretty much common sense stuff really. Oh and have decent insurance just in case. It is not just the replacement of items stolen but the fixing up and making safe again from any entry point.
Although we have good locks, CCTV, an alarm system, sensor lights and a couple of small safes for our valuables, we don’t worry too much about 'stuff'. We have a dog and our absolute biggest fear is that an intruder will take or harm the dog. Nothing else really matters to us as it can all be replaced.
Excellent advice so thank you.. and yes Motman our dog is a concern as he would make a lot of noise but god knows what a burglar would do to shut him up..
To start with I'm going to get some some fake cameras as a visual deterrent from Amazon until I can source a good wifi/app set up and also an alarm box, yes an experienced burglar would probabley recognise they are fake but luckily I have a business printing labels and stickers so I can make them look more real.
Geese are good alarms and can be damn aggressive too.
The usual alarms, motion activated lights etc.
Pyracantha inside fences etc. (less likelihood of legal repercussions than broken bottles concreted into the top of a fence / wall).
once inside through your best deterrent would be to place a large knife, a roll of duck tape a ball gag and a gimp mask on your coffee table before retiring at night. One look at that lot would have any self respecting chav burglar running for the hills.
I would say some sort of hidden safe for the watches and a professionally installed alarm system. I have a sounder in the house and it is painful to be there when it goes off. Professional Bell Boxes on the outside and that will deter most.
At the end of the day you are just trying to make your neighbour's house a better prospect than yours. CCTV etc. is useful and becoming de rigueur where I live but I think the alarm is the only deterrent from both outside and inside the house and monitored means you get a call not a pop up on your phone.
That said I have been impressed with Netatmo Presence cameras - replace an outside light and act as a light plus CCTV and pretty good at discerning between a car, an animal and a person.
For those that say Big dog.... there’s a few interesting videos on YT that shows a man with a balaclava walking into unoccupied houses (apart from a big dog). Non of the dogs react aggressively towards him, most don’t even bark and go into avoidance mode...
It’s probably a different story if the owners are at home.
It depends greatly on the type of "big dog" but I promise you that the two I have would not behave like that; they'd be more than happy to greet the undesirable appropriately.
Inside Edition is the American TV version of the Daily Mail and if anyone thought, what looks to be, a Newfoundland was going to do anything other than slobber over a stranger, they don't know dogs. I'd suggest that there is a reason why this 'experiment' was done with a very specific type of dog.
Last edited by AM94; 19th June 2018 at 11:54.
Talking alarm systems seem to work well.
http://www.cna-electronics.co.uk/sec...ducts-52-c.asp
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
spend what you like on dogs and shotgun blanks and what have you - if they want to get in they will and I would rather they did when I was not there and they will want to get in and out as quick as possible
so leave some less valuable but interesting booty around (jewellery boxes on the dresser etc.. _) and hide the good stuff in weird places (a small safe under a trapdoor under carpet in the floor boards or what have you)
Armed security guards seem to do the trick. Plus someone in our block has a bunch of gentlemen in smart but bulging suits hanging around outside most of the time. They appear to listen to the radio a lot.
Sell everything, nothing of value, nothing gets stolen
Saw a video for this today, most burglaries are via the back patio doors, this looks simple and very effective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCYwSEwS_wI
£50 ish
I think with the cameras it's knowing that something is going on so you can react/call the police etc which is good. If I'd been a bit quicker getting outside who knows what would have happened!
Unfortunately mace is illegal but you can get a dye spray which is legal and pretty disorienting.
I'm of the opinion that any burglar in my house is fair game for anything he gets.
ook
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........