Attempted Break In!!

Dave Plowman (News) wibbled on Tuesday 01 December 2009 10:40

It works if your wife looks like Vinnie Jones, you look harder and everyone for 50 miles knows both of you have done time for armed robbery and ABH

;->

Reply to
Tim W
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I have had a number of cold calls (despite TPS) ostensibly to alert me to crime prevention possibilities. They offer a "free" burglar alarm system, I "only" have to pay for installation. When I ask what the ongoing costs are, they get somewhat tongue-tied, can't really say, "it depends on the details..."

Chris

Reply to
Chris J Dixon

So you are 50 miles away and you get a text that tells you that yorui alarm has been triggered. What do you do?

Call the Police? They won't be overly interested as you can't say if the intruders are still present or if it's a false alarm or a family member accidentaly setting it off.

Call a neighbour? Hum, do you want them to go around a possibly disturb/meet the intruders that may well be violent in their escape?

It isn't but think through all the implications first.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

"Not all burglars are pikeys", rather than "not all pikeys are burglars".

R
Reply to
RobertL

No. You fire up a web browser on your iPhone, log into the webcams that are scattered around the house and only then phone the police if the intruders are still present. :-)

Thinking about it does the 999 system cope with someone coming through to report something happening in another part of the country. Indeed what happens if you are overseas. can you prefix 999 with +44?

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew May

On the contrary, I think they *do* realise that, and that it is quite possibly what attracts them in the first place.

Reply to
Bruce

Fortunately, you can get steel doors that look like wooden panel doors, until you get quite close. IMHO they look a lot better than the usual bog standard UPVC doors.

Reply to
Bruce

We are trusting in the UK compared to other countries where security is taken seriously:

France: multi position locks on windows and doors and most windows have shutters (volets, voler = to steal) Spain: doors and windows all have a reja (steel gate and barred windows) Morrocco steel doors and barred windows etc.

John

Reply to
JTM

Indeed, the last time I looked at a discount for having an alarm, it was only about a tenner a year and the insurance would be invalid if the house was unoccupied and a break-in occurred while it was not set. With two adults and three children in the house, I certainly wouldn't want to chance invalidating my insurance by one of us simply forgetting to set it on the way out - possibly not even knowing that everyone else was out!

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

And go on holiday and have the police and RSPCA break into your house due to reports of an abandoned dog ;)

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

I installed our alarm and maintain it my self.

I don't declare it to the insurance company: the discount is too small, a maintenance contract (if I could get one) too expensive and the opportunities to not pay out too great.

Reply to
F

What's the law say? Is it "explosives" that they don't like? Or just "untethered projectiles"? (Wondering if someone could get away with a compressed-air system to fire something at the bastards)

Reply to
Jules

They're common this side of the Pond, too - but the steel's *extremely* thin and wouldn't take much to get through (they're sold because they're low-maintenance, not because of any security aspect). I assume folk here are talking about something made from thick plate that would really need an angle grinder or gas axe to hack through?

cheers

Jules

Reply to
Jules

"Multisecure" four point fixing top bottom and both sides Lock side with three fixing bolts very very secure chris

Reply to
Chris George

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

The steel gates can be very effective -- very commonly used in South Africa. Relatively cheap, too. But what the planners would say in most places is another question.

Reply to
Appin

Indeed, but the "trip bang" loophole still remains on the books - quite a few police forces in rural areas are still surprised.

They were used recently to try to discourage deer poaching etc - organised gangs turning up menacing both land owners & farmers.

Reply to
js.b1

Well you had to leave the door open, as they don't make catflaps big enough for rottweilers.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Those are wooden doors, with a pressed steel skin over them. You can't kick them in, but they will still kick out.

They also have the real downside that any minor damage from a failed attempt ruins the door and makes it impossible to open or close, needing replacement, when a wooden door could be repaired.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

They're not shotgun cartridges, they're alarm devices or bird scarers (black powder, no shot). The loophole is tiny and I'm surprised it's still there, but it is just about.

(Bigger paintball suppliers, Streatham armoury, or somewhere rustic and tweedy)

Reply to
Andy Dingley

The message

from Neil Williams contains these words:

Can't happen to soon, when it comes to doors and door frames.

Doors in this country are generally of a very low standard and very badly fitted compared to the average elswhere in the world.

It could hardly be a bad thing for a limited number of specified preferred sizes to be listed as a standard requirement for new build. Obviously one size doesn't fit all when it comes to older buildings, but a very limited number of standardised sizes might bring a measure of competition into hte market. We might even see pre-hung doors becoming the norm and a little bit of factory-engineered accuracy going into the manufacture of these items to a reasonable tolerance. Steel internal doors may be a bit OTT, but steel external doors in a factory-engineered steel frame are a good thing, IMHO. And of course there's nothing to stop the production of a good composite door with a substantial steel frame with steel-reinforced wooden inserts.

Reply to
Appin

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