The numbers are in and it’s been confirmed: CCTV is the leading reason why both burglars AND car thieves will keep walking past your house or vehicle, and hone in on a neighbour who doesn’t have a visible deterrent instead.
When you need a product review, you ask an expert, right? If you want to know about a new car or washing machine you want to know what the experts think, so why should home security be any different? And that’s why CO-OP asked a dozen reformed criminals what it was that was the biggest deterrent against them breaking into a house or car.
And so it transpires that basic security lighting is at the bottom of the field while a CCTV camera is at the top. Security lighting is unreliable as it does nothing to spur neighbours into action if it’s triggered. Additionally, because the light goes off again once people stop moving once they’re on your property and forcing a door or window, so long as they don’t move energetically, the light won’t come on again. Allying lighting with cameras on the other hand sends out a strong signal that you’re taking security seriously and recording images of everyone who steps onto your property.
Make The Burglars Work And They Won’t Even Bother
Thieves, by the very nature of their work, like the easy life. Instead of working to earn cash to buy the things they want, they forego the labour element of the exchange and go straight for your cash, jewellery, and valuables. Make life difficult and increase the chances of detection and identification and you’ve struck on the recipe for prevention. The more time consuming it is, or the more attention a break-in is likely to attract, the less likely it is that your home or property will be targeted.
So, a barking dog or a car alarm are number two in the Top Ten of Crime Prevention. A burglar is rarely afraid of getting bitten, but the dog draws a lot of attention and gets in the way when the burglar’s trying to work, adding to the time it will take to make their get-away. Similarly, people don’t call the police as soon as they hear a car alarm, but they do look out of their windows to see which neighbour it is who’s disturbing their sleep. If they then find it’s not a false alarm for a change, it’s then that they call the police.
The Top Ten Deterrents For Home And Car Thieves
| Top 10 deterrents for home thieves: | Top 10 deterrents for car thieves: |
| 1. CCTV cameras
2. Barking dogs 3. Strong secure doors 4. TV and radio noise 5. Locked windows 6. Cars parked on the driveway 7. Overseen by neighbours’ property 8. Surrounded by well maintained fences 9. Gates on the property 10. Motion activated security lighting |
1. CCTV camera directed onto the street
2. Car alarm 3. Street lighting 4. Car parked on a drive 5. New cars 6. Steering locks 7. Older, low value cars 8. Neighbourhood Watch 9. Parking on a dark alleyway 10. Immobiliser |
That’s not to suggest anyone should think they can forego standard security practise. After heavy doors a TV left on is still a deterrent as it gets the potential burglar to think twice about breaking in. A burglar might think ‘it’s worth having a crack at that, I reckon I can get past those cameras’ but if they have a nagging doubt that someone’s home AND that they’ll be captured by the camera, they’re more likely to move on.
So, the take away from The Co-Op’s survey is that home security is actually simple: make burglars and car thieves nervous and they leave you alone. Slow them down or make it impossible for them to break in without drawing attention to themselves and the chances of losing your property are greatly reduced.
Make Sure Your Home And Car Have Kerb (Un)Appeal
The key is to make it obvious from the pavement that your home is protected. There’s no point having a deterrent which you keep secret. You don’t have to put signs on your lawn and stickers in the windows, just discreetly let miscreants know that there’s more to risk breaking into your house or car than they’re prepared to chance with.
But there’s no point fitting security if you’re not taking basic steps to keep your home secure. It was also found that more than half of us sleep with the windows open and a quarter don’t lock the doors when we’re at home. That might seem perfectly reasonable, but getting out of the habit of shutting and locking up is a slippery slope. If it’s not your habit to keep all the doors and windows locked, it’s easy to leave the house and forget to secure the doors and windows because it’s not second nature.
And all the security precautions in the world won’t stop someone walking through an unlocked door.
There’s a misconception that most burglaries and break-ins happen at night. The reality is that housebreakers work at all times of day or night. If you live in the commuter belt or in the heart of the city everyone will be at work during the day, or too busy getting on to look out to see if there are suspicious characters about. And because the public perception of the burglar is one who operates by night, people tend to assume that anyone on your property during the day must have a good reason to be there. Instead of a stripped top and an eye mask, a far more effective disguise would be for the average thief to wear a Hi-Viz tabard and carry a clipboard.
Braint Communications can supply and install a range of industry leading wireless CCTV cameras, access control and motion sensitive security devices. Click here to arrange a free, no obligation quote from one of our experienced engineers.