We got burgled just before new year, and then a month later at the same time (1830) on the same night (thursday) a Strange youth came knocking and asked for directions to a street that is about a mile away. Since then we quite often wake up to find the window boxes removed from our window sills and placed on the ground. This morning the front window box was off the sill and the wheely bin was up against the back door, as if someone has been trying to get through the window above the back door! Police are involved and have been good, coming round finger printing etc, but its obvious that who ever broke in last time is really keen to get in! We hide all our valuables, keep all doors locked etc but is there anything else we can do? I don't want to spend a lot of money as we are moving out asap (just waiting on a completion date)!
We've got original sash windows (bolted shut from the inside), following a previous break in, the area around the cat flap is reinforced with batons and some very thick wood, the gate is padlocked, wedged with wood and tied shut with rope, and my bombers are kept warm and ready for action! Any other suggestions?
dog
dog
didn't help us, they obviously gave him a kicking and we found him in the bathroom.
+1 for Dog. One that barks, doesn't need to be viscious, just very noisy. We've got a Staff, she'ss bark as soon as someone puts a foot on the doorstep, if it is evening we'll encourage her to go to the door first, and open it a crack so she can stay barking while some door to door person exits down the driveway. Equally in the evening if she seems disturbed by something in the garden we'll send her out to clear anyone out - yoofs have got into the back gardens locally from an open playarea nearby.
ninjas, or a note on the doors and windows saying:
"i now sit silently awake at night, waiting. i will happily go to prison for the satisfaction of scraping your face off with a hammer drill. If you're reading this, you're already on CCTV and have tripped the silent alarm alerting the police. I dare you to try and enter before the police save you from me"
Baseball bat. Then when you catch them in the act, club him. Hard.
Seconded for the dog.
However a simple security light will really help.
Have you got an alarm? We were broken into last year, all they took was the two cars once they found the keys 🙁 We had an old alarm we didn't use, but now have a all singing and dancing new one.
If you won't be in the house long have a look at the Yale wireless ones, they are easy to fit and you can remove them and take them with you.
A big, noisy dog.
The day before we moved into our current home, our flat got broken into.
The home we're in is, IMO, a bit of a break in risk, so almost the first thing we did was get a German Shepherd.
Never been broken into since. I know thats not evidence of bugger all, but it makes me feel better.
The local neds are terrified of her too, which is a bonus.
+1 for the Yale wireless alarm. I fitted one late last year, really easy to install and customise. With the added bonus you can alarm your shed too.
I have a Yale wireless alarm. It's very reassuring. Took me around 3 hours to fit and works well. If I were a thief I'd just not bother, so many houses without alarms. Cost around 200 pounds on line and Yale helped out on the phone when setting it all up.
Just wish I could get the good lady to use the bloody thing!!!
ninjas, or a note on the doors and windows saying:"i now sit silently awake at night, waiting. i will happily go to prison for the satisfaction of scraping your face off with a hammer drill. If you're reading this, you're already on CCTV and have tripped the silent alarm alerting the police. I dare you to try and enter before the police save you from me"
Funny but a bit to florid for your average scumbag to understand.
I started a similar post last night! 'What would you do?' I think i called it. Prob like you say, get the place sold asap, but in the meantime make sure you've got decent insurance and you meet the lock requirements of it (they normally specify 5 lever mortice locks and window locks on all ground floor window). If they're standing on your wheelie bin to check things how about after filling it with petrol weakening it enough to break when they get their weight on it then some self igniting sytem... The prob with barking dogs is you get fed up with them and ignore them after a while, we did as the scrotes were taking my car off the drive.
So if you do get a dog all you have to do is stay up for the next 18months while you wait for it to grow up and be big enough to deter. 😀
Fit a loud alarm, outside motion sensing lights, CCTV in visible areas. Then stay up a few nights and see if you can ambush them.
My old Staff scared a few potential robbers off, if they had got in he would of licked them to death 🙂 he did do something odd once, a friend was in the house and I went out to get a pint of milk. Apparently he growled if the friend tried to get out of the chair. Happy for him to sit there and was fine when I got back. What a top dog he was.
Phil has summed my feelings up there... Why can't these people be stopped, these scumbags seem to have affected nearly everyone I have spoken to about this. Would anyone really miss this minority of scrotes if they were locked away for good?
Not very sure an alarm makes any difference to be honest. As with cars, makes no difference to insurance premiums and most people ignore them anyway, or get really frustrated that you're causing a lot of noise. And burglars know that. Same with security lights, they're on and off so frequently I for one generally ignore them. Not good, but just human nature to filter out what's not a threat 99.9% of the time.
Just wait round the corner....
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Most of the stuff we did after getting burgled was either more than I would want to spend if I was moving or takes a bit of time and wouldn't be worth it for the same reason. In the short term I guess it's just a case of being vigilant, keeping everything locked making sure bushes/hedges are trimmed so as not to provide hidden access. maybe leaving lights and a radio on a timer if your out in the evening, just so the house doesn't look unoccupied. Lock the doors at night
In the longer term at the new place you might try:
Prickly bushes under windows or beneath obvious points of access such as a back wall. We have a combo of some plant with inch long thorns and blackberry bushes which have the added bonus of providing yummy jam.
Trellis on top of existing fencing, the added height creates a visual deterrent and it tends to brake when climbed making a good amount of noise in the process.
We added pricka strips along the fence where burglars gained access previously.
make sure that all useful tools are well secured. Lockable metal cabinet in a secure shed/garage, nothing worse than providing the tools to help someone break into your house.
Mostly they like to gain access from the back of the house so pay extra attention to this area.
You could add retractable grills to downstairs windows and doors, maybe just those that a burglar could work on hidden from view.
The advice I had from the police was that you can't stop a determined thief from gaining access if they really want to but enough small measures can make it more trouble than it is worth. if they think they are going to have difficulty getting in or out again then they will probably move on and (unfortunately) rob one of the neighbours instead.
what sort of range will the Yale wireless setup work over.
the shed isnt too close to the house
Depends where you live in regard to alarms, I forgot to shut my dog into the back of the house one morning and she set the alarm off, I had three phone calls from neighbours and the police were round in five minutes.
If all else fails - Move.
what sort of range will the Yale wireless setup work over.
the shed isnt too close to the house
My shed is about 40m from the alarm base unit, which is at the front of the house. Signal has to go through 3 rooms and a 3ft thick sandstone external wall.
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(Sorry been watching too much Gunny Ermey on Sky)
I replied to konaboys thread and I really feel for you meehaja. I think that you should be obsessed with beating them, why not ask the police to get more involved with the surveillance and capture of these S>Y>N>T's so they can really get them.
How about get more involved with neighbourhood watch? I wonder about starting with a poster campaign, get some good quality pics of scrotes and put posters up round your area or do some letterboxing to let others know, then maybe enough surveillance will drive them away..
I would see this as a challenge, you have to box clever and find ways of winning this (legally) ..
Thanks for the advice all... I'll look into the YALE alarm. The new house was previously owned by a MOD security guy so comes equipped with grills on the windows, alarm, fancy locks and night vision/IR/CCTV (three cameras!) so I think we'll feel safer there!
It would be interesting if they ever did come in while we were in, we have some friends staying at the moment, one of whom is a MMA fighter...
I was toying with taping thumbtacks to the underside of the sash windows, but so far they haven't caused any damage, just tried to gain entry, will winding them up just cause a brick through the window?
Funny this chat because tonight at 11:30 I was woken by the sound of some scumbag climing on the pile of wood and radiators and crap on my front lawn trying to nick the copper pipe I've been saving for my trip to the scrappies. I threw open the sash and yelled only to see them cycling off on two bikes, one of which was bright orange just like my battery which is in the shed at the back.
I legged it to the shed and my bikes are still there, so phew..
Funny this chat because tonight at 11:30 I was woken by the sound of some scumbag climing on the pile of wood and radiators and crap on my front lawn trying to nick the copper pipe I've been saving for my trip to the scrappies. I threw open the sash and yelled only to see them cycling off on two bikes, one of which was bright orange just like my battery which is in the shed at the back.
I legged it to the shed and my bikes are still there, phew..
They'll be back so why not lay in wait?
While you're busy securing your house against entry, don't forget that one day you may want to get out really quickly - eg fire.
I keep a signed cricket bat under my bed that I won at a county cricket match jolly between Glamorgan & Lancashire, honest officer its not meant as a weapon just have as a memento didn't mean to hit the robbing thieving scumbag in the mush was aiming for silly mid off 😆
House alarms in our street get a response. It's the end of a cul-de-sac and whenever I hear one I go out, and there's often a couple of other of my neighbours out too.
Plus our alarm's connected to the police.
If its only for a short while, what about a job-less hard-bastard lodger?
All you need is a poster like this. Word has got round in the criminal fraternity.
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Connecting an electric fencer to metal window grills is a useful deterrent but unfortunately it had to be removed after someone* complained to the police.
* No, the police didn't think to ask how the person complaining came to know there was an electric fence linked to the windows. /slaps forehead
These wireless alarms - so they are basically standalone units, not wired in to any control centre, etc? They sound perfect for what I'd need, we live in a fairly busy road so noise (while unpopular with the neighbours if it goes off randomly) would probably be enough to rouse the neighbours and scare the casual thief off. My folks have a wired in to a centre version as they live in a more remote location and hence all the noise does is wake them up, then they can sit trembling hoping the police arrive before the scrotes get in.
I like Phil's idea, but I don't think they'd understand it 😆
Rig your alarm up so that rather than a beeping, it plays some really evil sounding dubstep or slow, menacing death metal. Very loud. That'd scare me off anyway 😆
enfht - MemberThey'll be back so why not lay in wait?
They did, and whilst I was laying in wait I fell asleep. All copper gone, got woken at the very last minute and chased them off. Theiving scum.