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Unless things get violent there’s no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
Which is a shame as this lower level crime affects far more people, undermines faith in the Police more and potentially leads to some offenders doing more serious down the line.
A bit like the lack of traffic cops.
Something I'd like to discuss with my democratically elected PCC
I must live in a slightly less violent area to some. I am on my areas facebook group. Its handy to see if someone wants some of the crap i am getting rid of. Anyhow the latest thing is videos from their fancy doorbells and its pretty consistent from a few people. The major crimes at the moment are........
1) Stealing tyre valve caps off car tyres
2) Playing in the bushes
Honestly the locals are up in arms about it as if we live in the bronx. One guy mentioned it was a bit out of line slagging off these kids dress code and their upbringing. He has now been blackballed from whatever wife swapping parties that are arranged (Ive never even been invited).
With regards to home security. I have door locks, locked 6ft gates, me, my 2 dogs (One would have a go, the other wouldnt. Both would make a LOT of noise) and my 19yr old son. If someone wants to break in then crack on. I am certain they would prefer to have a go at 95% of the other houses on my estate. The trick is to make your house too much hassle than other options.
Depends where you live. Crime is very local. I live 3 miles north of the Glasgow boundary. Pretty much crime free. No garages or houses in the street broken into in the last 30 years. Worst crime wave was one night when three cars got mirrors kicked off them. A neighour got a window smashed. That's about it. I have regularly forgotten to lock my shed overnight without losing any of my bikes.
Go 3 miles closer to Glasgow where you are easy walking distance from the Maryhill and Drumchapels areas of Glasgow and it is a crimewave im relative terms. I'm not up to speed with the current situation but 5 or 6 garages and sheds getting done in one night was not unusual.
There really are not enough police. My area of 10000 households has 1pc and 3 pcso to cover all shifts 24/7. At best there are 2 on duty, usually one and often at night shared with neighbouring areas.
But even a properly resourced police there is only so much that can be done with petty crime. There is huge amounts of evidence that crime increases as poverty and inequality increases across society. Fairer society less crime
but do some people not lock their house doors at all times?
windows open, door unlocked where I live in galloway but my area is not representative of where you live.
Last time I locked my doors was 3 years ago when I had a weeks holiday in aviemore.
Unless things get violent there’s no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
I'm surprised at that - because Police Scotland would. They would pursue someone trying front door or door handles on driveways under s57 on the Civic Gov (Scot) Act:
Any person who, without lawful authority to be there, is found in or on a building or other premises, whether enclosed or not, or in its curtilage or in a vehicle or vessel so that, in all the circumstances, it may reasonably be inferred that he intended to commit theft there shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 months or to both.
does England not have an equivalent?
Somafunk - so you don't look your doors when you go to work/shops/pub and house is empty?
Poly - in think they mean lack of resources rather than legal power
so you don’t look your doors when you go to work/shops/pub and house is empty?
Don't work, haven't been to a pub for 4+ years, haven't been to a shop in 2+ years and when I do leave the house (very rare these days due to spms) I don't lock the doors so nope............its quite safe here.
Prior to being totally ****ed by ms I never locked the house, except for weekends away/holidays etc. like I said my area is not representative of what has been mentioned above.
Lack of resources, lack of will power, lack of any meaningful deterrent, the people behaving like this aren't put off by a criminal record, community service, suspended jail sentence, at worst occupational hazards, at best it doesn't enter their heads there might be consequences.
because Police Scotland would. They would pursue someone trying front door or door handles on driveways under s57 on the Civic Gov (Scot) Act:
Ah but to do that they would have to catch them. They routinely don't even attend these kind of calls in parts of the city.
A council in the North East is now starting to evict council tenants whose kids had been involved in anti social behaviour at a railway station.The parents get warnings and so far 2 or 3 families have had eviction notices.
Of course,when the reporter asked people in the area what they thought about it some said the parents should not be responsible for their kids actions.
I find it bizarre that "locking the door" and "living in fear" seemingly have equivalence.
It's a fraction of a second to twist a key and prevent someone just wandering in maybe even accidentally. A couple of weeks ago a delivery driver opened our front door to chuck in a parcel, this is potentially problematic as I have house cats with the road smarts of a cheese sandwich. We're not sitting here hiding behind the sofa every time someone coughs three streets away.
find it bizarre that “locking the door” and “living in fear” seemingly have equivalence.
I find it wierd people lock their doors period.
Guess it's all to do with where we grew up.
We’re not sitting here hiding behind the sofa every time someone coughs three streets away.
Take everything to the random odd extreme ?
Sounds like your living in fear of your cat being squashed on the road other wise why would you lock your door.
There's an analogy that springs to mind but it seems in appropriate to put them together but let's say it shouldn't be up to the homeowner to stop people walking into their house.... People should not be walking into people's houses in a fully functioning society.
There is huge amounts of evidence that crime increases as poverty and inequality increases across society. Fairer society less crime
It's as if some long term social investment might pay for itself in 10-20 years time.
finding this whole thread bizarre tbh because every house I’ve ever lived in - pretty sure every one I’ve even [i]been[/i] in - the front doors lock when you close them! Isn’t that how they work? 🤔 Guess not!! 😂I find it wierd people lock their doors period.
Live in a pretty low crime area, never even heard of anyone I know getting burgled, everyone still locks the back door though when going to bed or out, because that’s What You Do. This is down south tho. YMMV if you come from Postman Pats village or something I guess 😀
Just to address a few things I've seen pop up on the thread so far then....
I'm not living in fear, it's just a shame that my area is being blighted by this. I don't expect we're going to be broken into and full-on burgled, but there's a chance now that if I leave the door unlocked over night, some little pecker could sneak in and nick the car keys.
This whole situation has never been an issue my whole life until about the last 5 years when we first heard of kids trying car doors up our street. Now that's developed to them trying front doors as well.
I'm not in any FB groups, nor am I going to join a vigilante group, I just get shown the discussions by other people. It's only a matter of time imo that something will happen, someone being attacked or something.
I only started the thread to see other peoples experiences, I have also emailed the local MP to make him aware and a local pcso who will likely come round to discuss it.
I live in Blackpool, so obviously there'll be derogatory comments about that. But believe it or not, there are some nice areas round here and other market towns and small villages extending right across the whole of the Fylde coast. Everywhere has been blighted with it recently. A mate of mine lives in a small village in the sticks heading toward Preston, some kids opened a window to his living room, climbed in and took his car keys. The car ended up in a car chase in greater Manchester somewhere, was stopped with a stinger and the kids arrested. Drugs and cash on board. A more extreme example obviously, but goes to show that random sh!t like this happens even in a quiet village in the (almost) middle of nowhere.
Not locked my front door overnight for around about 20years.
Crunchy gravel drive
Pir lights around house
Insomniac neighbours
Low-ish crime area, not a village .in Hampshire .
Do get the teens wandering around at 0100 trying car door handles , and the odd more serious TWOCKing. A blurry B&W 15 sec clip of facebook of a skinny kid in a hoody with a scarf is useless , but does show they are around.
do some people not lock their house doors at all times?
My first house I lost the key so left it unlocked for about three months until I could be bothered to buy a new lock set. Worked 12 hour shifts, five days per week at the time. Nothing happened.
Next two houses I didn’t lock the doors if I was in or nipping out for a bit. Nothing happened there either despite one of them being in a shitty part of Huddersfield.
Current house, front door gets locked because we live on a busy road and Funkette is four and mischievous. Back door is normally left unlocked or half open (stable door) most of the time. Locking yourself in just seems crazy to me. What makes you feel that unsafe?
Unless things get violent there’s no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
Police in Glasgow did some actual investigating when someone stole my laptop non-violently. I was amazed!
BTW my house doesn't have a lock on a latch that locks automatically. Aren't those type of locks very weak anyway?
Is it just me who locks the door when I get in because I've got a memory like a sieve and know if I don't I'll go to bed then have to wander downstairs 20 minutes after in the cold?
Or do you just leave it open all night as well?
What about zombies entering while you sleep??
Or do you just leave it open all night as well?
Lock it as I walk past it on my way to bed. Routine.
I also check the car is locked at the same time.
Before hanging the keys on the hook where they live then go to bed.
But that's different to feeling the need to lock the door at any time it's not in use.....
Just been round to board up a neighbours door and window that was broken this evening. I heard the thieves and disturbed them so they never got in but they made a mess of the door. That's only one week after the neighbor on the other side of us was burgled and 3 weeks after the neighbor 4 doors along was done. It's all going a bid mad 🙁
I think more likely is they just don’t GAS. Hood up, mask on, can’t be identified no matter how good the camera is.
Our locals don't care about that, just wander in and take what they like.
the new thing is stealing plants from people’s doorsteps (bay/olive trees etc) 🤷♂️
Same here. Plus any shitty garden tat that isn't nailed down.
Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.
FWIW I'm not a compulsive door locker but then I didn't grow up in a shit hole, I did live in some since including a flat that was broken into and my bike wheeled out whilst my flatmate slept and even waved to the burglar when he stepped into his room. As such I'm cautious now and don't leave stuff open to getting lifted. My wife grew up in Cumbernauld and hasn't lived anywhere she didn't need to lock the door before here.
Not everyone has the luck or experience of growing up as one of the Secret Seven, try not to judge those that didn't.
I live in KT7, a nice area. People walk the streets at night trying car doors, I left my truck open once and lost my RB sunnys and £20 in change. They even do it in daylight. We caught one wandering about trying doors and reported him, Rozzer where here in 5 minutes
Guy across the road lost a five day old Merc ML to someone cloning the remote key, so both our cars keys are kept in pouches.
We have had a few break-ins over the years local, mostly when people are away, but a couple a few years back when the owners were in bed. They were tied up and threatened and the house was ransacked.
I have always had an alarm, but we now have a much better one that we put on 'Home mode' in the evenings and lock all the doors. It is monitored and will call the police, it has a camera in the house in the event of being triggered they can check in. there is also a panic button that does the same. It also covers the garage, where the bikes are and my workshop. The Garage is like Fort Knox. Main door has a false wall behind built behind it and the biggest upvc door with security glass.
I hate it but needs must I guess. Just around the corner in Richmond Park four cyclists were mugged off their bikes in daylight. Like I said nice around here...
“ Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.”
I think they are also unaware of how much a smug tosser they sound like.
Moving is easy to say but hard in reality dont you think? I have thought about it for years and will at some point... maybe.
Schools, work, friends and a life tend to slow down this decision and of course how much it costs. Plus where too? the rest of the country is pretty much the same right?
Plus where too? the rest of the country is pretty much the same right?
No.
One thing we have learnt on this thread is that everyone has a different idea of what normal is. There are plenty of places where having to lock your door, or at least feeling like you do, is really not a thing and some where it is essential, including some quite wealthy areas, like that chap in Richmond a couple of posts up, despite being one of the richest parts of the country it sounds really grim.
We used to have a crappy Fiat Panda when we were young. Lived in a really rough area that's since been sorted out. Major drug dealers lived two blocks down. We had to leave the car unlocked and keys in it.
Might sound counter-intuitive. But the car wasn't ever wrecked. Sometimes it'd come back with less petrol in it. Sometimes more. The only time we locked it, they smashed a rear side window and took a dump on the back seat!
I am confused.
If you lock your front door how do the neighbours wander in to use your microwave or borrow some milk ?
Here on the Isle of Mull we typically have one recorded crime incident per quarter. Most folks don’t lock their doors - we have an entrance hall and leave the outer door unlocked as much for the postie / courier deliveries. Inner door is locked when we’re out because sometimes we leave the dog at home and she’d lick any intruder to death! A bigger concern is leaving the gate closed because the deer will get in and scoff the contents of the garden!
Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.
I think 3 signs in an 8 month period ( which the resulting paranoia took a while to get over) and it being a rental is a fine reason to move. New rental was cheaper too as wasn't in the city .... Likely not the case now though thanks to the wfh shift.
We have had rural crime( folks oil pinched and the barns cleaned out) so we remain vigilant. but not continuous in the way that doors are tried in the city here.( 6 miles away)
So how long until two threads get combined with rampant theft of air source heat pumps? £2-3k of soon to be in-demand kit sat outside. They already have a convenient adjacent isolator switch, so snip the cable and two copper pipes, then maybe 4 bolts and it is away in 1-2 minutes with practice.
The two main incidents in our village have been where requested police never attended an original incident and things escalated :
Group of kids mucking around in the school grounds>trying to set a wheelie bin on fire>school burnt to the floor.
Kids steal some slabs of beer from Spar>emboldened and pissed kids at 2am trying car doors and stealing / trashing what they found (lots of dash damage to neighbouring old lady - hopelessly trying to steal a fully built in satnav ffs).
Little **** need dealing with, so if it take vigilante groups, that’s what it takes.
WTAF! Are you really suggesting that you assemble a vigilante group to proactively take action?
I can understand in the moment defending your own property or pursuing people who have attempted damage or theft of your property (Unwise though that can be -,especially the latter.), but what will you do - grab any young person on the streets and hand out a beating?
I spent a lot of time in my later youth - out for walk to clear my head, or out on my bike because pedalling a bike was better than staying in. Not once did I commit or consider committing some random crime.
I do know what my young and unwise head would have done if I was aggressively challenged by some wannabe middle-aged vigilante - because it happened. Not only was I massively resentful and hugely scared, that led to me behaving aggressively in return. I wasn’t in any way behaving suspiciously BTW, just walking and minding my own business.
If in my situation, the original aggressor hadn’t thought twice and had gone to carrying out his threats and physically assaulted me, it would have been an extremely negative outcome. Not because I was or am some kind of hard man, but because the cocktail of fear and having to defend yourself physically is bloody dangerous. One or both of us would likely been severely injured - and that would have been tragic and completely unnecessary.
Yes it's mental!!! So you want to go out late at night and indiscriminately beat people? Think that's more problem than solution.
Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.
I dont read it like that. To me its nice to hear that petty crime isn't the norm in all parts of the UK and I am just pleased that not everyone has to endure it.
We get a bit of bother (petty theft, vandalism. occasional burglary etc) mostly from the kids in the park out back as they come too and fro. Last time I spoke to a PCSO about it he pointed out that they liked the kids congregating in the park as the police knew they were safe there. Live in Thames valley with fast access via the motorways so any abduction could be far away very quickly. They are just 13/14 year old kids. By the time they are 15 they have mopeds and go elsewhere. We were all young once, so I am happy to tolerate each batch as they come through.
I grew up in a small village and we always locked the doors when we went out. So it is just normal for me to lock the doors. Very little crime, but it was about. We had a break in to our empty property while we were in the process of clearing it out to sell it. Another house had windows removed to gain access while owner on holiday.
I think 3 signs in an 8 month period ( which the resulting paranoia took a while to get over) and it being a rental is a fine reason to move. New rental was cheaper too as wasn’t in the city …. Likely not the case now though thanks to the wfh shift.
We have had rural crime( folks oil pinched and the barns cleaned out) so we remain vigilant. but not continuous in the way that doors are tried in the city here.( 6 miles away)
And conversely round here whilst an opportunist will be away with my plants or sat nav left on display I know I'm not going to come home to find my car has been swiped (DC2 down the road excepted) or my heating won't work because the tank has been emptied. Horses for courses.
The field my old man had once had a digger parked in it that had the batteries and fuel nicked after just replacing them. Another guy had his tank filled with expanding foam for good measure (presumably over secured so taught a lesson).
Arseholes are everywhere, it's just a matter of what you are prepared to put up with.
finding this whole thread bizarre tbh because every house I’ve ever lived in – pretty sure every one I’ve even been in – the front doors lock when you close them! Isn’t that how they work? 🤔 Guess not!! 😂
When we did some work on our house and had to put in a new front door I specifically asked for one that didn’t lock automatically. We are fortunate enough to live in an area where the kids wander in and out of each other’s houses so I wanted to make it as easy as possible.
Doors stay unlocked until bed time. I do appreciate how lucky we are, I’ve lived in some pretty rough areas over the years.
I’ve lived in some dodgy places when younger and they were probably the safest places to leave your door unlocked. The wrong uns would go on the rob in more affluent areas.
PIR linked to "irrigation" system? The description to the Police could be hooded, masked, dripping wet.
Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.
if not wanting to live somewhere I have to lock myself in my house is peak STW, I’ll take it. Where do I collect my prize?