Burglar alarm dummy boxes-are they worth bothering with?

jwc999blue

In the past our neighbours alarm has gone off, phoned the police (North Wales) & was told they don't respond to domestic burglar alarms, next time it happened i phoned them again & told them I thought I saw someone in the garden & they still didn't respond, next time I will just tell them that the neighbours car is sat on the road untaxed, I know its a lie but I know they will respond, if you live in North Wales you will know what I mean - Spleen vented:D

PT66

My house was broken into 3 times - police said I was targeted as I was one of the only houses in the road without an alarm. Dummy or working, they still provide a deterent. Thieves are looking for a quick in and out so will go to the next easy target. I have since moved from that house!!

shandypants5

Ruth_honey wrote: »

Also looking at doing this too. Are they easy to fit?

Easy to fit, but you then need to run a power cable from somewhere and install a switch.

Electrician shouldnt charge much.

sadie22

the dummy cctv cameras are another idea, they dont require electric just batteries for the little flashing red light

James187

Ruth_honey wrote: »

Also looking at doing this too. Are they easy to fit?

The police recommend a dusk til dawn light rather than a motion sensitive light and using energy efficient bulbs they're not expensive to run. A burglar would rather break into a house which is in relative darkness a few doors down than one that is permanently illuminated after dark. Whereas, once a house has been targetted the burglars don't tend to be put off by a light coming on for a few minutes because most people assume its a cat or something and don't check.

ssedd

A dummy bellbox is better than none, as said previously if an house has a box and another hasnt then they will try the house without first.

alanobrien

happyhappygal wrote: »

To be honest, I don't think they are any use at all....real or not.

How many times have you heard a house alarm go off...and instead of running to the scene or dialling the police - you actually just curse the home owner for their faulty alarm?

Not down our street, if an alarm goes off at least three neighbours are around inside of a couple of minutes. A dummy box is better than nothing, anything that encourages a tealeaf to move on is a good thing.