Burglary undoubtedly is one of the issues that the whole of the UK is facing right now. Police and law authorities are trying hard to control the situation but the crime rate is getting worse day by day. Mostly during the holidays when people move from one place to another for vacation purposes, this offence increases by a huge margin. According to the studies, the crime rates in the UK are increasing with every passing day including theft, trespassing, gun crimes, violence, and more.
At Guard Mark Security, we have been providing informational articles on different topics related to crimes and offences in the United Kingdom. Today, we are going to share the top 10 tips we have got from a former expert burglar to avoid burglary at your home or any other premises. If you are living in an area where burglary is a common issue, these tips are especially for you. Read the blog till the end and you will get to know a lot of new things that will help you protect your house from burglars.
Learning From a Former Career Burglar
Lancashire Partnership Against Crime (LANPAC) organised a seminar on Wednesday, 7th August 2024, and invited the former expert burglar. The motive of the whole session was to teach people how you can protect your premises from burglars.
Darryl Kennedy is a former burglar who has committed more than 20,000 burglaries and has almost four decades of experience. Darryl shared some of the best tips during the seminar and helped thousands of people mitigate the risk of burglary at their place. We always think about what we can do to take care of our premises but looking at this thing from the perspective of a burglar can change the whole image. Once you have read this blog, you will get to know places that help owners keep burglars away.
10 Crucial Tips for Securing Your Home against Burglars
Here are the top 10 tips that Darryl shared during the seminar held at Lancashire Partnership Against Crime (LANPAC):
1- Keep Protected the Backyard
Darryl shared that most of the burglars chose the backyards or the rear of the premises to access the property. The former expert shared the statistics by showing a graph and said that almost 30% of the burglaries happened through the back door because they are less protected most of the time. Due to not having preventive measures in the backyard, burglars get enough time to break into the door to access the house.
Darryl shared that if you want to protect your home from burglaries, you have to take care of your backdoors. You can install the deadbolt in the back doors, enhance the fencing, and install the CCTV cameras to make sure everything is always under a watchful eye. Burglars don’t access the property where an active CCTV camera has been installed.
2- Connect Your CCTV Cameras to Your Phone
During the seminar, the expert shared a very helpful tip and said to always choose and install the CCTV cameras that connect to your phone as well. CCTV cameras are one of the greatest inventions from the perspective of security. Moreover, CCTV cameras are now very digitalised and can connect with your phone.
Once the cameras are connected to your phone, no matter where you are, you just have to open the application and everything will be there right in front of your eyes. Even if you are out of the country, you can just open the application and see if everything is okay. Moreover, the best thing is to install the cameras that incorporate the motion sensors too. Whenever those cameras feel some kind of movement, an alert message will be automatically sent to your mobile phone so you can check.
3- Ensure Your Outdoor Lights Work
Burglars try to stay away from the well-lit areas and find the post which is dark and out of sight. Darryl said that it’s important to make sure that both the front and back lights of the premises are fully effective and working properly. The reason is that sometimes we forget or take this thing lightly which provides an edge to the burglars and they easily access the property without being noticed.
4- Don’t Leave the Extra Boxes Close to the Bins
We are living in an era where people love to shop online instead of going out and visiting different shopping malls. There are too many online platforms available that deliver to your doorstep and you don’t have to go to malls including Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Shopify, and more. Now the issue here is that when you shop online delivery partners deliver your parcel and leave it on your doorstep. Your products like gaming laptops, high-tech LEDs, and other precious items attract burglars and thieves.
Moreover, when something stops working, do not place it beside your bins. This tells the burglars that they have many other precious items in the house they can steal and sell in the black market to get some good money. Instead, cover the items well and throw them in the bin. The best method is to take all your nonworking items to the recycling plant and hand them over to avoid being the burglar’s target.
5- Consider Triple Glazing on Concertina Doors
We love to maintain the aesthetics of our house but at the same time, it’s crucial to think about the safety and security of it. Darryl said we often overlook our doors and don’t do the double or triple glazing. This might sound costly but if you want to protect your assets and precious items, you have to spend a fraction of money on glazing.
If your doors have the normal one-layer glazing, this is the ideal target for burglars because they can beat it easily without creating any noticeable sound. On the other hand, if the glazing is of double or triple layer, most burglars do not dare to break it due to the threat of being caught. Moreover, the triple-glazed glass doesn’t break easily and requires a lot of effort and time which burglars don’t have.
6- Install Composite Doors
As per the research, most of the burglaries happen via the front door. Whenever we leave for work, we always lock the door and make sure it’s secure. But we often forget that many front doors are not secure strength-wise and can’t face the force from the burglars.
This is exactly where the composite doors come in to ensure the complete protection of your house. Composite doors don’t just provide a sense of security but also enhance the beauty and aesthetics of your home. So, invest in the composite doors, install them on all the entrances, especially on the front, and have some peace of mind knowing your house is protected all the time.
7- Don’t Let Your Pets Go Out
When giving a free hand to the pets and letting them go out, or move into gardens, this tells burglars that your house doesn’t have any active alarm system because if it was there, the pet must have triggered it. Once burglars or thieves witness your pets playing around, it is equivalent to telling them that we don’t have alarm systems and you can come to rob us whenever you want.
Darryl said there are two things you can do now; first is don’t let your pets go out and the second one is to install the modern alarming and monitoring system. This kind of modern system recognises you and your pets and don’t get triggered when someone identical reaches the radius. But whenever someone else who is not in the system passes by, the alarm gets activated and lets both house residents and neighbours about the attempt to theft or burglary.
8- Always double-check the Doors and Locks
During the seminar, Darryl said that most times, we think we have locked the doors but in actuality, we don’t. So, it is important to always double-check whether the doors are properly locked and working in the perfect manner. One of the major things you have to take care of is always locking your porches. As we have discussed earlier, almost 60% of the burglaries happened through the front in which porches are the biggest target.
So always make sure all the windows and doors are fully locked and functional. Moreover, it is wise to oil the locks every week so they function smoothly and properly.
9- Install a Security Lock on Your Master Bedroom
Darryl said that when I used to do burglaries, I always used to target the master bedroom because people keep their valuable items there 95% of the time. All the expert burglars who quickly enter the house and leave only target the master bedroom and take all the expensive items.
These expensive items can be a gifted watch, perfume, highly demanding brand dresses, digitalised hair dryers, jewelry, and more. If I ask you the question, where have you placed all these things? There is 90% chance that all your expensive items are in your master bedroom.
So, it is wise to install the security locks or deadbolt on your master bedroom door because it will slow down the pace of the burglar and if you have installed the alarm system, it will panic the burglar and he might leave in a hurry without taking anything. Even Darryl said that the most difficult houses were those with the deadbolts on the master bedroom’s door and it was really tough to break-in.
10- Don’t Tell People about Your Holidays
It is human nature to tell others about the holidays and the places they are going to enjoy but when looking from the security perspective, it is one of the worst things you can do. As per the research, most burglaries happen during the holidays when people are away from their homes.
So, if you are going for a holiday, don’t shout out. Just let your neighbours and some close friends know that you are going for the holiday and take care of our home. If you start telling everyone, burglars will get to know about leaving your house and once you have left, they will do the planned robbery and will take all the expensive items with them. Moreover, as you are away, they will have enough time to access your premises and get everything they want.
Another thing most people do is that they post their photos and videos on social media from the place they are visiting. This also gives a clear indication to the thieves and burglars that you are not home. The best thing you can do is go for a vacation, click some really good pictures but post them on social media once reach home. This will really help you protect your house and valuable assets.
So, these are the top 10 tips from a former expert burglar with the experience of almost 40 years in burglary. If you think about all those tips with a calm mind, you will get to know that these things are necessary to take care of. According to Darryl if someone starts implementing all these 10 tips, their chances of being robbed are near to zero.
As security experts at Guard Mark Security, the UK’s #1 security company, we recommend simple yet effective steps to safeguard your property, like asking trusted friends or family to make your home look occupied while you’re away by turning on lights or drawing curtains. Implement these tips today to prevent thefts. If you need professional security services in the United Kingdom, contact our dedicated team anytime for expert assistance tailored to your needs.
