Neighbour burgled - anything I can do for them?

dandelionclock30

Really? the Police that came to my house and said that must have been liars then. Depends which area you live in. Remember as well not everyone reports burglaries especially if they have no house insurance.

Believe what you want to believe,I know how bad it is.

nick-nick

pinkteapot wrote: »

It has made me ponder CCTV but it's not cheap and our house already has too many wires around it. It's not common in our area at all. When we were looking for houses, one listing said the house had CCTV and it actually put me off slightly as I assumed they'd been burgled in the past!

In a newspaper article about the burglaries there's a CCTV image of the burglars, so it presumably didn't put them off that house.

You can get CCTV systems quite cheap now, even if it is just a couple of cameras than link to your computer rather than a full setup.

I will stick to having 2 big dogs though, they deter more than cameras or alarms

fivetide

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

Really? the Police that came to my house and said that must have been liars then. Depends which area you live in. Remember as well not everyone reports burglaries especially if they have no house insurance.

Couldn't have imagined that the ONS stats for England Wales would be wrong, were as you, with your massive generalisation would have been right...


Previously it was through your work you knew this. Now it is because some Police told you. The simple point is that crime, on the whole, is down and the OP doesn't need to worry, especially as it sounds like they have already taken sensible steps.


If thy have help their neighbour take the same precautions or work with them to keep a safer neighbourhood that is all they need to (and can) do.

Slinky

Your neighbour needs to get an alarm and make sure they use it. Simple as that. I was burgled, unfortuantely I found out after I'd been burgled the second time that my house I'd bought a few months earlier had been burgled twice before. I had an alarm fitted (I'd just agreed an installation date with the company when I came home to find I'd been done a second time) and have had no problems since. My stupid neighbours didn't taken my experience as a lesson, and as a result were done themselves a few years later.

You only have to make your house look a bit more difficult to get into than somebody else's and they will go elsewhere.

We're thinking about putting in CCTV as there seem to have been a number of attempted car thefts in our area, including somebody chasing a thief only to find a gang of hoodies in the next street taking photos of the cars there....

catkins

When I was burgled the police (who were useless) told me:


(a) there was a very good possibility the burglars would come back, probably after they thought there was a good chance my insurance had paid out.


(b) there was very little chance of them ever being caught.


(c) there was no point in getting an alarm


I don't agree with them about the alarm although they said that most of the time people ignore an alarm going off. I think it's important not to make it obvious the house is empty. I have a lamp that comes on with a timer and if I am going out and won't be back until after it gets dark I also have a lamp that comes on at different times. Especially important if I am out with the dogs!


Two of my neighbours close their downstairs curtains every time they go out, back and front and if I know that is a sign they are out so could a potential burglar. It also means someone could wander round their house without being seen (neither have nets). I find it really strange that they do that.

pinkteapot

I'm not unduly scared. We're pretty good anyway - always lock doors and windows and use the alarm, but it's made us think to really double-check what we're doing.

We work full-time so danger point for us is probably late afternoon in winter when it's dark and no lights on in the house. Suppose I could set some timer lamps for the hall and a room upstairs? (I know you shouldn't just light the hall, because no-one is ever in their house with just the hall light on) If I made a light come on in the lounge it'd still be obvious no-one's home as the curtains are open and you'd see the room is empty.

clark24

There has been a massive increase in burglaries in our area recently, mostly things like quad bikes and tractors and other farm equipment stolen, but also there have been many break-ins to the actual properties too. Based on how many people round here own guns and other weapons the burglars obviously have a death wish but it has made us be extra vigilant. We have an alarm, security lights, 2 big noisy and protective dogs and all the locks and bolts needed but if they want to get in, there is nothing more we could reasonably do.
You just need to make sure that the effort they would need to go to to enter the property is not worth it, and if you live on a street that has houses with alarms, and you hear one go off, instead of cursing the alarm, go check it hasn't gone off for a good reason. Too many people ignore them, and never accept that the job of an alarm is to alert a potential problem. Burglars know that if they set off someones alarm it will most likely be ignored, if people started immediately checking why a local alarm had gone off then the whole point of having one (which isn't a deterrant) would actually work.

Gavin83

nick-nick wrote: »

I will stick to having 2 big dogs though, they deter more than cameras or alarms

Cameras are easy to avoid (just wear a mask) but surely dogs are as well? If I was a burglar and I knew there were dogs in the house (and I would as I'd have scoped the property previously) I'd take something with me the dogs would want to eat stuffed with whatever I needed to take them out. I wouldn't find dogs in the least bit a deterrent.

Proper alarms are pretty hard to avoid though. My parents one has motion sensors around the house along with sensors on the doors and windows. If you enter by the front door it gives you 30 seconds to type the code in, any other method of entry will just set it off. Therefore if a burglar broke in (via the front door) they'd have 30 seconds to find the control unit, take the cover off and disable it. If the alarm actually triggers it sends a message to the police who give a guarantee they'll be there within a certain length of time. I'm not really sure how even the most seasoned expert could get around that, unless it was literally a smash and grab job.

I'd also suggest a really good safe to keep your valuables in. Good in the event of a fire as well.

nanto3girls

If you have an alarm fitted,it doesn't mean you are safe from burglers.Our eldest son had burglers,and it was the alarm going off, that woke him and his partner up.

catkins

Gavin83 wrote: »

Cameras are easy to avoid (just wear a mask) but surely dogs are as well? If I was a burglar and I knew there were dogs in the house (and I would as I'd have scoped the property previously) I'd take something with me the dogs would want to eat stuffed with whatever I needed to take them out. I wouldn't find dogs in the least bit a deterrent.

I have 2 dogs, one of them goes mad barking and growling even when OH comes in the front door until he sees him. If someone new visits I normally have to put him in his crate until he realises the person is ok. I am pretty sure he would not eat anything even if thrown into the living room as he would just be going mad to see and or get to whoever had come in the house. The other dog may well eat whatever the food was