There's a thief among us
A terrible thing happened to a friend of mine last night. Being burgled is bad enough on its own, but having it occur while you are asleep in another part of the house gives it a new dimension. It's unbelieveable that people have the audacity to risk being caught and confronted for consumer driven loot. Would you put your life on the line for a digital camera?
My friends are obviously quite shaken and now need to go through the painful process of replacing that that was stolen and ensuring that it doesn't happen again. It seems that they came in through the dog flap without waking up the dogs.
I thought it therefore appropriate to share with you some tips of how to minimise the risk of being burgled yourself. I did a quick check of our flat yesterday, so this is fresh in my mind.
Do an audit of your most valuable possessions. For those items that have only a physical value, keep a record of its value together with receipts, if possible. This ensures that if something were stolen, you have everything you need to make a claim.
Improve the security of your home. If there is nothing obvious to steal and it is really difficult to get into your home, a burglar probably won't bother breaking in for the sake of it. An easy thing that you can do is put key locks on all windows. For instance, use a stay lock on casement stays or sash window stops.
Lock all your doors and windows at nights and when away. Even if you are in and in another part of the house, keep unneeded doors and windows locked. Make sure you also keep the keys somewhere handy, but not obvious or easily found by a burglar.
Keep valuable out of sight. Many burglars are opportunists. As with all lazy people, they tend toward the low hanging fruit. Either keeps electronics/purses/etc in a cupboard when not in use or make sure you have curtains/blinds drawn to keep out the unwelcome eye. For those items that have sentimental value, consider keeping them somewhere hidden or off-site (e.g. safe deposit box) when not in use.
Make a scanned copy of credit cards, drivers licenses, passports and other valuable documentation. Storing these securely online (e.g. password encrypted zip file in your Gmail account) will ensure that if they are ever taken by a burglar or pickpocket, you are able to access them quickly to cancel them and to assist you in the interim while you wait for replacements.
Install motion sensitive lighting in dark, secluded areas. Burglars often don't want to draw attention to themselves and can be put off by automatic lights.
If you can't afford a real alarm system, how about some decoys. There are all types of devices available to help deter a criminal. This can be everything from a sticker on the window from an alarm company to faux motion detectors with blinking lights. Some of these even make noise, again making the burglars life much less pleasant. I actually came up with a great idea which are films that you stick on the inside of certain windows and they make it look like there is wire running through the glass.
Being burgled is a terrible experience and one I sincerely hope my friends never have to repeat. Luckily, in this case only physical possessions were taken and no one injured. I hope the above tips will help keep you safe and your stuff out of the hands of those that shouldn't have it.