SECURITY SOLUTIONS

Are you really safe once you get home and lock your doors? In an open society your home should be the sanctuary for you and your family. Your home is the only environment where you have control over who can get close to you or your family. Protecting your home and family from criminal intrusion should be high on your list of priorities. By far, the most common threat to our home is burglary. According to crime statistics, a burglary occurs somewhere in the United Kingdom every 23 seconds and almost 1 million offences were reported to the police last year alone. There were many more unreported offences. By definition, the crime of burglary is a non-confrontational crime. However, becoming a burglary victim can leave a family feeling vulnerable and violated. To avoid becoming a burglary victim, it is important to first gain an understanding of who commits them and why.

The majority of home and apartment burglaries occur during the daytime when most people are away at work or school. The summer months of July and August have the most burglaries with February having the fewest crimes. The busiest day in the year for domestic burglary is Bonfire Night. Burglaries are committed most often by young males under 25 years of age looking for items that are small, expensive, and can easily be converted to cash. Favourite items are cash, jewellery, watches, laptop computers, CDs, DVDs, digital camera equipment and other small electronic devices are high on the list. Quick cash is needed for living expenses and drugs. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes. Identity theft is taking the name and other personal details of another individual. The kind of information stolen may include credit card details (issue date, expiry date, card number, issue number) date of birth, passport details, driving licence details, current address or previous addresses, household bills, (especially gas and electric) mothers maiden name, etc. etc. – the kind of detail used to help establish identity in an application for all kinds of services, ranging from credit products to bank accounts, from insurance to utilities. Statistics tell us that 70% of the burglars use some amount force to enter a dwelling but their preference is to gain easy access through an open door or window. Ordinary household tools like screwdrivers, channel-lock pliers, small pry bars, and small hammers are most often used by burglars. Burglars continue to flourish because police can only clear about 13% of all reported burglaries and rarely catch the thief in the act.