Week one of National Home Security Month has drawn our attention to a great smart phone app that tells you how many burglaries there have been within a one mile radius of your home recently. Apart from telling you there are home intruders operating in your area, it is also interestingly shows who does not have adequate security. For example, I know of a housing development in Aylsham where all the front doors are fitted with kite marked ‘Yale’ type locks. Locksmiths and burglars can tell at a distance that these properties are very secure, from the front at least. Unfortunately, most of these properties have double glazed back doors with standard cylinders which are easily broken into, but whereas the more determined home intruder might check out the back, the opportunist will scout the first few properties in the area and might well decide the pickings would be easier elsewhere. Therefore, the burglary rate is lower.

Some statistics taken from National Home Security Month:

• Burglars typically spend less than one minute getting into a home.  That’s how easy it can be. And that’s what we want to protect against. If they can’t get into your home in less than a minute, then they may go and look elsewhere. I was speaking to a friend just yesterday who told me he is terrible for forgetting where he left his keys, but doesn’t worry about it because he has alternative ways into his house. I tried to explain that this is a terrible situation but some people will only learn the hard way. It also scares me that he tells other people that his house is easy to burgle. Don’t be like my friend. Have quality locks fitted and keep them in good working order.
• 73% of burglars gain entry via a door.   Think about this. They want to carry as much of your stuff off as possible and that means going through a door. Trying to get out of a window with the loot runs the risk of injury or getting stuck, and therefore caught. So why break in through a window if you won’t be able to use a door to escape? I would take an informed guess that most of the remaining 27% were breaking in with intent of stealing specific items. That is a guess, but one that makes sense.
• 1 in 3 people admit to leaving the door unlocked when they leave the house! When I was growing up, I remember just about everybody in our street popping in and out of other people’s houses – but in that long distant past, we all looked out for our neighbours. Nowadays it seems most of us only communicate with our neighbours with a quick hello in passing, so leaving doors unlocked just seems insane. If you are the sort of person that does this, then invest in the type of lock that will need a key to get back in. There is no excuse. About the only thing worse than leaving doors unlocked would be to paint a sign out side saying “Please come in and take what you want!”
• People without window locks and double locks or deadlocks on external doors are six times more likely to be burgled. Quite simply, even if the burglar can’t see from a distance that you are well protected, a quick try at some of your windows might tell him to look elsewhere. Remember, when they do come in through the window, it is because they can force the frame. They don’t want to break the glass because that leads to the risk of injury and if they do cut themselves, they are leaving forensic evidence.

If you would like any advice about your home security, without sales pitch, please feel free to contact me via the contacts page on the web site.

National Home Security Month has been designed to create awareness around the importance of home security and get people security savvy in time for winter. The nationwide initiative, which runs throughout the month of October is supported by security specialist Yale, but is open to lots of organisations, including businesses, charities and not-for-profit groups, as well as members of the general public.

Thank you for reading.