Police damage to front door - possibly excessive

Gavin83

MattMattMattUK said:

Bendy_House said:

Are door chains actually accessible from the outside - are the door gaps large enough? Wouldn't that defeat their purpose if someone wanted to get in - an easy 'snip' rather than a 'smash'?

If the gaps are large enough to get a bolt-cutter in there, then I'm surprised the services don't use a BC before a battering ram - the time taken must be very similar, and far less chance of injury (and property damage, of course).

Police can open an external door with a battering ram in under ten seconds, with one of the electric cutter/chainsaw things a similar amount of time. To be able to cut the chain one first has to open the door, that either requires a key, drilling the lock, or having the lock picked (either by hand, or using a snap gun), then cutting the chain, which is going to take significantly longer than than the five to ten seconds to gain entry via a battering ram or chainsaw. 

There's one thing I don't understand when you watch these police shows with them smashing down doors. I don't understand why the criminals don't take extra steps to re-enforce the door. If I was a criminal I reckon I could make the front door virtually impossible to break through or at the very least take 5 minutes to break through. The banging would almost certainly wake me up and give me time to carry out a way to dispose of evidence which I'd preplan. Why don't criminals do this?

pattycake

I’ve not read the whole of this thread but thought I would add my experience.  A few months ago we were concerned for an elderly neighbour late at night.  His dog was barking and we knew he wouldn’t be out so late and left the dog alone.  The neighbour has a history of collapsing suddenly.

i have a key but was reluctant to just enter the house so rang the police on the non emergency number for advice.  They wouldn’t deal with it but contacted the ambulance service who rang me back.  They said to take the phone (ie the operator) and go into the house.  We were worried by what we might find and the dog’s reaction.

Anyhow, the dog was caged in the kitchen and the neighbour nowhere to be seen.  The ambulance service rang off and told me to get back in touch with the police as I knew something was wrong.  The police operator said she would see if she could track him down.  Sure enough, she rang back quite quickly to say he was in A&E having collapsed in the street.

We tended to the dog and our neighbour was home in the morning a bit battered and bruised but my point is, the police would not attend.

fenwick458

A few years ago a tenant committed suicide in one of the rentals and the ambulance service attempted to force the back door in, but couldn't get in so pried open a nearby window and then opened the door from inside. the door was a write off (it was so flexy it just absorbed all the hits thats why they couldn't get in), and the window needed a new set of hinges. got quotes from window company, started to submit a claim to house insurance and discovered the insurer (Aviva) waived the excess as it was classed as a "medical emergency"
there was also a window right next to the flexy door they attempted to force and they DID NOT smash it and reach around the back