Pet Friendly Burglar Alarms

Fretwired

thomasross20 said:

 
How many of you actually have a security system? Just curious! 

Had one but it was a pain in the butt. My neighbour has one that goes off every now and again.

I had mine decommissioned but left the box up. One of my neighbours is an ex-senior Met Police officer. He just has a box on his house and good locks. Most thieves are opportunist and look for easy pickings - good locks are a big deterrent and an alarm box will make them walk by, especially if most houses in your area aren't alarmed.

underdog

I think good locks and no open windows is the most sensible answer. At that point they to break a window, which is very noisy.

EricTheWeary

Sporky said:

EricTheWeary said:

Pretty much anything I've seen about burglars or the ones I interviewed suggests a dog isn't a deterrent. 

Pretty much everything I've read says the opposite - if next door doesn't have a dog that's where they'll go. Barking draws attention one way or the other.

Yeah, I think I said in another comment that if it's opportunistic then the burglar will go with the line of least resistance. So alarm box, yappy dog,etc, might make them choose another house. If they have targeted your house or decided they like the look of it for some reason I'd suggest a dog isn't​ significant. If someone kicked your back door in Sprocket would probably just go and have a wee in the garden.

MattBanshee

Decent locks on windows is key - every single burglary I've ever experienced (mine and friends/relatives) they've got in through a window. The key to avoiding a burglary is, unfortunately, to make your house look more difficult to rob than your next door neighbour's house.

Nitefly

Decent locks on the doors and windows, PIRs at back and side of house connected to security lights - they don't like being seen.

nick79

Sporky said:

EricTheWeary said:

Pretty much anything I've seen about burglars or the ones I interviewed suggests a dog isn't a deterrent. 

Pretty much everything I've read says the opposite - if next door doesn't have a dog that's where they'll go. Barking draws attention one way or the other

Going back a few years now but a friend of mine got home after a night out and found his back door wide open. He had been burgled, or at least attempted. The junkie scum bag was stuck in the kitchen because my mates Doberman had backed him into a corner and wouldn't let him leave. Apparently the look of absolute terror on his face was magic. 

Sporky

EricTheWeary said:

Sporky said:

EricTheWeary said:

Pretty much anything I've seen about burglars or the ones I interviewed suggests a dog isn't a deterrent. 

Pretty much everything I've read says the opposite - if next door doesn't have a dog that's where they'll go. Barking draws attention one way or the other.

Yeah, I think I said in another comment that if it's opportunistic then the burglar will go with the line of least resistance. So alarm box, yappy dog,etc, might make them choose another house. If they have targeted your house or decided they like the look of it for some reason I'd suggest a dog isn't​ significant. If someone kicked your back door in Sprocket would probably just go and have a wee in the garden.

Ah, gotcha - yes, I suppose if they're targeting you specifically then you're fine.

Though Sprocket has a social bladder - she only wees if someone's there to compliment her on it. She would, however, invite them to play. And her invitations are very vocal and bouncy.

Rox

Our dogs always sound like they'll rip your head off..

markblack

I just got a system fitted in my house (no pets so can't help there) used to be with ADT (basically free equipment, but they sting you on the contract) this time I got a a system fitted for around £600 (but no fees). Boxes back and front - alarm sounds inside and out. 

My school of though (as was the fitter) was make my house less appealing to break into than next door Junkies who are looking to steal a laptop to get £20 might have a go - 'proper' thieves will know that that if you've fitted good locks and an alarm that it's going to be hassle they don't want and will find an easier target.

I also got a decent safe - not a small one (to easy to nick that that and hide it) one a bit smaller than a microwave, bolted it to the wall. Again make it heavy and hassle.

DLM

Nitefly said:

Decent locks on the doors and windows, PIRs at back and side of house connected to security lights - they don't like being seen.

Ah yes, of course. We had those put in too. Honking great floodlight for the back garden, a smaller bulkhead for the side passageway. Armoured glass on both so they couldn't be taken out with an air rifle.

ThePrettyDamned

Dogs seem to work here. 

We have had a spate of burglaries here (it, sadly, coincides with the arrival of a large number of Irish travellers... I've always been incredibly accepting but this lot has trashed a field, *allegedly* dumped oil filters in the river and there have been loads of burglaries in the last couple of months, although no one is caught so could be unrelated). They pick on elderly and folk who don't have a dog in the house. The problem is dogs shouldn't be left alone for too long so it's hard to know whether that's a smart idea or not. We've always had someone about mostly. 

Good locks, good quality windows that are harder to break and generally making it difficult apparently works - can be simple things like making sure outside drainage pipes are not super strong enough to be climbed up, or painting them with that slippery stuff, making sure ladders are locked away, windows are locked when you're out. 

Thieves are bastards. When my car was ransacked I felt really anxious about leaving it anywhere. 

joneve

DLM said:

Nitefly said:

Decent locks on the doors and windows, PIRs at back and side of house connected to security lights - they don't like being seen.

Ah yes, of course. We had those put in too. Honking great floodlight for the back garden, a smaller bulkhead for the side passageway. Armoured glass on both so they couldn't be taken out with an air rifle.

We're lucky (or unlucky if you're staying in the spare room) to live RIGHT next to a street light (which basically illuminates the aforementioned spare room ) and out the back our parking area (for ours and the 3 other houses on out "block" of houses) has a rather bright street light which illuminates our back garden, so that's handy. 

Jimbro66

I put security lights on house and sheds about 8 ft above ground. They were smashed with a hammer or crowbar. I then put them above reach on the house and on a 3 ft pole fixed to one shed. They came over the back fence and turned the shed light round to face the other way while trying to unscrew the shed door hinges. They were slowed down by torx screws so gave up. Then I increased the pole to 6 ft long with the security light up top. That stopped them, - for now.... It's a tiresome battle.

Very tempting to connect the pole to the mains but apparently that would be unfair to the little scrotes.

thomasross20

Thanks for all your comments - look forward to reading them later!

rlw

thomasross20 said:

I've got stuff (sentimental things plus few guitars that are amaaazing) that I can't really replace so want to get something in.. maybe a couple wireless sensors and an external light or something. I'll get on the case to see what's available. 
Policewoman in the band says police wont recommend anything, and that the ones where there are operators.... aren't worth the extra by the time they get the call, finish their coffee and alert police etc. 

The crime prevention team won't recommend anyone but should have a list of people who aren't  shit.
We were burgled a couple of years ago and the police were of the opinion that we were the target as we were clearly out and didn't have an alarm.
Statistically, you are less likely to be a victim if you have  an alarm.  Even burglars do risk assessments....
We were victims of a serial burglar who had only ever robbed homes without alarms.  How do I know?
He left a greasy smear on a window where he had squinted in.  It was enough for a DNA test. At interview, he admitted targeting us due to no alarm, as well as his 100+ other victims.
We lost about £15k of irreplaceable jewellery.
He got four years.

rlw

markblack said:

I just got a system fitted in my house (no pets so can't help there) used to be with ADT (basically free equipment, but they sting you on the contract) this time I got a a system fitted for around £600 (but no fees). Boxes back and front - alarm sounds inside and out. 

My school of though (as was the fitter) was make my house less appealing to break into than next door Junkies who are looking to steal a laptop to get £20 might have a go - 'proper' thieves will know that that if you've fitted good locks and an alarm that it's going to be hassle they don't want and will find an easier target.

I also got a decent safe - not a small one (to easy to nick that that and hide it) one a bit smaller than a microwave, bolted it to the wall. Again make it heavy and hassle.

One of my client's client's was found in possession of several safes which he couldn't account for

EricTheWeary

joneve said:

DLM said:

Nitefly said:

Decent locks on the doors and windows, PIRs at back and side of house connected to security lights - they don't like being seen.

Ah yes, of course. We had those put in too. Honking great floodlight for the back garden, a smaller bulkhead for the side passageway. Armoured glass on both so they couldn't be taken out with an air rifle.

We're lucky (or unlucky if you're staying in the spare room) to live RIGHT next to a street light (which basically illuminates the aforementioned spare room ) and out the back our parking area (for ours and the 3 other houses on out "block" of houses) has a rather bright street light which illuminates our back garden, so that's handy. 

Jimbro66 said:

I put security lights on house and sheds about 8 ft above ground. They were smashed with a hammer or crowbar. I then put them above reach on the house and on a 3 ft pole fixed to one shed. They came over the back fence and turned the shed light round to face the other way while trying to unscrew the shed door hinges. They were slowed down by torx screws so gave up. Then I increased the pole to 6 ft long with the security light up top. That stopped them, - for now.... It's a tiresome battle.

Very tempting to connect the pole to the mains but apparently that would be unfair to the little scrotes.

Many, many years ago I worked in a Mencap residential home. There was a break in (to the office part only to be fair to the lovely people of Nuneaton who thought we were fair game) and so an expensive series of security lights were bought for the outside. They then stole the lights. 

Allotment sheds (well, like many sheds) get broken into a lot, any decent tools shift very easily at car boots. Following a bit of police advice my friend Steve, who ran two allotments, painted all of his stuff left in the shed with lurid pink paint. They did break in again but never took his stuff. Steve, an extremely large shaven headed chap,fortunately felt comfortable enough with his self image to tend his vegetables with shiny pink tools. 

grungebob

At a previous house we had an alarm system, good locks on both windows and doors ( double glazing) and a CCTV camera, what I hadn't planned on was someone jumping over next doors fence to avoid the camera, and kicking in the bottom pane of glass in my back door to climb into the kitchen and nab all they could and running off before the alarm went off.

so my advice would be dont have large glass panes in your doors.

turns out my neighbors was robbed and their glass was done the same only their opening was smaller so a child crawled through theirs then opened a window for an adult as theyd left the keys for the windows in the locks, so probably dont do that either.

DLM

@grungebob Sadly all-too-familiar MOs. Particularly the use of children.

Apart from the greedy council's desire to sell the land to developers and consequent total neglect, thievery and mindless vandalism drove the tenants off our allotments (we had two plots, like Steve). One by one the sheds were broken into and gradually destroyed. We never kept tools there, but we did apply a similar strategy to bicycles and only used POS runabouts around town, which "won" the league tables on bike thefts one year, ISTR.

fields5069

joneve said:

DLM said:

Nitefly said:

Decent locks on the doors and windows, PIRs at back and side of house connected to security lights - they don't like being seen.

Ah yes, of course. We had those put in too. Honking great floodlight for the back garden, a smaller bulkhead for the side passageway. Armoured glass on both so they couldn't be taken out with an air rifle.

We're lucky (or unlucky if you're staying in the spare room) to live RIGHT next to a street light (which basically illuminates the aforementioned spare room ) and out the back our parking area (for ours and the 3 other houses on out "block" of houses) has a rather bright street light which illuminates our back garden, so that's handy. 

Same here at the front of the house. Since the council upgraded to LED bulbs they also now don't switch it off at night.

We have an alarm system but never arm it, so we have a box with flashing lights at least. The main problem is the garage which is 40 or 50 feet away and at the bottom of our downhill garden, in pitch black darkness.