Home Security - our neighbour was broken into

[CoolHands]

OK so I'm quite security conscious. However our next door neighbour had a break in during the week, so I want to improve things further. Like most people we're out at work all day so it's limited what I can do in that regard. Apparently the burglars have stepped it up now we're near Christmas, the bds.

my doors:



Plus points of my security:

• I have upvc french doors at the back, (see pic) and I have already changed the eurocylinders for anti-pick / snap versions some time ago.
• I have a burglar alarm system (it rings out to our phones too, to alert us)
• I padlock the gate that leads to the back garden (so burglar could only climb over, or kick it down)
• I lock my workshop doors
• timer which switches on internal lights at 4pm-ish
• I have a back-up disk of our computer kept off-site so we won't lose all our pictures!
• I have all serial numbers + pics of our stuff recorded on immobilise.com (recommend this if you haven't looked at it)
• front door is quite secure (deadlocked + visible from the street so unlikely to be attacked)

so I would like to add

• Solid aluminium Hoppe Pas 24 upvc handles hoppe handles
• thinking about cctv system.
• Until I get metal handles I have taken to using this cable around the handles to make it more difficult to get in while we're at work.

my temporary cable: (fear this is maybe a bit pointless!)



I know cctv is only any good to catch someone after the event, and to be honest I want to prevent losing my stuff in the first place. However I would enjoy using cctv (from a geeky point of view) so I may get this anyway.

Our neighbour - they have similar doors to us. What concerns me is they smashed the entire glass panel in one of the doors, then punched the centre section out to put their hand through and unlock the lock to open the door. I know people will mention my thumbturn locks but they would have simply kicked the rest of the glass out if they hadn't been able to unlock the door, so I don't see this as much of an issue. It's more concerning that the smashed the entire glass door. In that situation it's only my burglar alarm that is any use? - the anti-pick cylinders etc don't matter a damn!

This is the cctv thread I enjoyed reading - I may go for hikvision stuff: cctv thread. I've read the advice on the linked sites regarding security. Growing thorny whatevers in the back garden is not a likely thing we will do, plus too long-term.

Any thoughts?

[Muncher]

What's the lighting like around the house? How visible is it to neighbours? Are there any things in the garden that would provide cover to an intruder? How easy are the fences to climb? Do you have gravel? Burglars hate it because it's so noisey.

You can make your house very unattractive to thieves by making it difficult to even approach it without being seen or heard.

[Paul Drawmer]

Deploy smartwater and use their stickers.

http://www.smartwater.com/

[CoolHands]

Muncher said:

What's the lighting like around the house? How visible is it to neighbours? Are there any things in the garden that would provide cover to an intruder? How easy are the fences to climb? Do you have gravel? Burglars hate it because it's so noisey.

You can make your house very unattractive to thieves by making it difficult to even approach it without being seen or heard.

I have a back garden security light, but the neighbours were attacked in the afternoon (still light) - when it is dark we're generally in so it's the daytime that is a problem.

We have a shared driveay between our houses, with gates to our back gardens at the end. This is bad apparently - as once the theif ducks down between the houses they are out of site. Then they leg it over the gate. I could extend the height with trellis as recommended by some, or even just build the fence and gate from scratch taller (ie 2 meters).

it has a shared drive a bit like this: (not mine in this actual pic)



reading this it looks like metal gates are best solution to make it obvious from the street when a burglar is climbing over.
http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/common-access...

[littlebasher]

I had an identical set of doors in my last house. When the locking mechanism failed (leaving the doors locked permanently), the chap who came to replace the locks had the doors open in a little under a minute.

All he used was a big chisel, and simply popped each locking point thanks to the flexibility of the plastic. Didn't even damage the doors.

Wasn't impressed, especially after my shed had been emptied a month or so earlier.

I guess the best defence is to get the scum to pick another house, by the use of visible cameras, security lights, alarms, high fencing etc.

That's the way I went anyway

[randlemarcus]

Looks like your security has already served it's purpose - to make someone else a more attractive proposition. If they want in to your house - they will get in. Keep it up, and try not to let it become an obsession.

[bigandclever]

Big, ugly, expensive roller shutter door across your patio doors. If the scum don't kick your windows in, they'll peel them out.

[Vipers]

[Little Lofty]

Fitting laminated glass makes patio doors much more secure, you can fit as many locks and secure handles as you want but the glass is always the weak point.

[anonymous-user]

Jeez I'd move,
Is it not worth it for a better quality of life and "living in fear" ?

When i lived on a rough council estate and had an XR3i i used to wake up in the night wondering if it was still on the car park.

Now many a morning when i wander down i think oops forgot to lock up last night,

Tbh we are getting more security conscious and sometimes i think about locking the cars or locking the door when nipping out on an errand or a day.

The joys of living on estate 10 miles from central Manchester or not having much to steal

[andy43]

littlebasher said:

I guess the best defence is to get the scum to pick another house, by the use of visible cameras, security lights, alarms, high fencing etc.

That's what we've tried to do as one of our neighbours was burgled a few weeks ago - so we have a 6 foot high side gate with 2 chunky padlocks (carpet gripper rods on gates are handy to stop the, erm, birds), just changed all the euro cylinders to anti-pick/anti-snap (single-sided on the rear doors, so there isn't even anywhere external to put a key) and the handles to Hoppe 24 (the originals were literally complete junk in comparison), pruned bushes etc near the side of the house so all potential side entry points can now be seen from the road, already had cctv, decent visible alarm box with leds, lights on PIRs etc etc.

You can only go so far - there's a recent video I've seen where they use a police-spec battering ram - on the front drive in full view and straight through the front door.

On those patio doors I'd lose the thumbturns and fit laminated glass if still worried, but they're plastic doors and any thief will know exactly how to get through them - if not the locks or the glass then the hinges are probably the next weak point (sorry).
Beware of the dog sign might help.

I just need to persuade the wife that an additional car on the drive will make the place looked inhabited 24-7....


eta http://news.sky.com/story/1379697/robbers-smash-in...
I'm not helping am I...?

Edited by andy43 on Sunday 14th December 21:48

[Muncher]

I would light up the space down the side as bright as you can, oh and get a big dog, that's a huge deterrent.

[Nervasport]

Speaking as a cctv operator it wouldn't hurt to have cctv in and around the house, some clients homes/premises we look after have alerts Which go to their phones and comes up with pictures that we see too, could be worth looking in to.

[CoolHands]

Here's the gate area (the right of the picture) which I'm now thinking I should rebuild to be as high as the garage? - ie so you can't climb over it easily. It's at the bottom of the shared driveway between the two houses. Or will that look too weird.



here it is from the road:

[Yazar]

^^^ Will look fine. Could always paint the fence a darker color.

randlemarcus said:

Looks like your security has already served it's purpose - to make someone else a more attractive proposition. If they want in to your house - they will get in. Keep it up, and try not to let it become an obsession.

+1

Gravel as someone suggested would be useful on the shared drive, but other than that don't worry about it. Leave living room window visible enough to show no Christmas tree so no presents to nick (unless off course you have one).



Op- out of curiosity, how many burglaries does it show around your area in the last month/last december on http://www.police.uk/

Edited by Yazar on Sunday 14th December 23:31

[dudleybloke]

I would raise the fence/gate height but using something that will break and make noise if climbed on.
Either that or make it spikey.

[Sheepshanks]

speedyguy said:

Jeez I'd move,
Is it not worth it for a better quality of life and "living in fear" ?

I was thinking that as well!

Guy across the road from me regularly leaves his garage wide open all night and I know the chap next door never locks his house front or back. His is the only house in the road with an alarm box, so perhaps that keeps him safe. In reality he has no idea of its code.

[CoolHands]

Yazar said:

Op- out of curiosity, how many burglaries does it show around your area in the last month/last december on http://www.police.uk

11

4 on our road!!

Edited by CoolHands on Sunday 14th December 23:40

[Yazar]

Sheepshanks said:

speedyguy said:

Jeez I'd move,
Is it not worth it for a better quality of life and "living in fear" ?

I was thinking that as well!

Guy across the road from me regularly leaves his garage wide open all night and I know the chap next door never locks his house front or back. His is the only house in the road with an alarm box, so perhaps that keeps him safe. In reality he has no idea of its code.

OP hasn't been robbed though, is a psychological thing.

A pro would target a specific place in a very wealthy area, op's neighbours were probably robbed by a typical scrote/druggie so a little effort to make it difficult should be enough.

EDIT: wrote the above before the op posted the stats. Time to sell

Edited by Yazar on Sunday 14th December 23:39

[CoolHands]

Yazar said:

OP hasn't been robbed though, is a psychological thing.

A pro would target a specific place in a very wealthy area, op's neighbours were probably robbed by a typical scrote/druggie so a little effort to make it difficult should be enough.

I think that's true - their gate didn't shut properly so it was sort-of ajar. And they only nicked a few laptops and searched the place. Mind you they don't have much in the way of tech - we're a bit more into our gadgets.

I had a look at the crime stats and it's fairly consistent (between 6-12) most months in the general area, so our road doesn't particularly stand out upon closer examination. Well, not much it does look a little more frequented than some roads.