Burglar alarms and stable doors again

[ARW]

Just fitted an alarm at a house that was burgled 4 days ago.

[GB]

It's quite common for a house to get burgled, then the burglars wait a while for the items to be replaced, and they steal the new stuff. So, the real question is how many times has this house been burgled?

[ARW]

First time. They have been there 30+ years.

[harry]

Burglars tend to leave houses with an alarm alone, go somewhere without.

[Brian Gaff]

I am afraid that I have a bit of a thing about alarms. Indeed security in general. The mess burglars who are intent to get in to a ouse is terrible as I have seen. My approach these days is not to make the place into fort knox or keep really really valuable stuff here. I'd rather have a door lock to fix than a melted pvc door trashed double glazed doors etc really.

Brian

[Jon Fairbairn]

It may have been a new requirement imposed by the insurance company.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Do burglars much go for consumer stuff these days?

[Tricky Dicky]

Most break ins these days seem to be for car keys. A worrying trend is that some come "tooled up" and masked ready to threaten occupants as it seems to be the quickest way to find the keys and get out quick.

Richard

[spuorgelgoog]

I think the druggies do. Phones and tablets are exchangeable down the pub for smack.

Owain

[Robin]

That may or may not be what burglars _want_ but it's not what actually gets taken most often in burglaries. The ONS publishes the stats every year following the Crime Survey in E&W. For 2016-17 after cash/cards/wallets etc and jewellery/watches it was computers (including laptops and tablets), mobiles, electrical goods (eg TVs, games consoles) and cameras.

[whisky-dave]

Is it realy that simple, I;ve heard that places with alarms show that someone has something worth stealing and that it;s better to get the alarm to false trigger so the owner gets fed up with it and no one takes any notice.

next doors fire alarm has gone off almost every day in the last 2 weeks and always about my dinner time so from 7pm to 9pm except on a couple of days when they weren't in.

they also don't have any net curtains you can quite easily see what they have in their front room downstairs, and when they bought their new TV 3 weeks ago the box was left outside for recyscling.

[Peter Johnson]

Yes. A friend who was burgled a few years ago was told to have an alarm installed by her insurance company. (And a house near me was burgled just before Christmas, broke into the uPVC french doors. Set the alarm off but no-one heard it, of if they did they ignored it. In that case, the consumer electronics were ignored and the jewellery was stolen.)

[R D S]

New-ish build near us, there's *always* an alarm going off, either numerous alarms are faulty or operated by the terminally thick. It's come to the point now where nobody bats an eyelid. It makes you look forward to winter after a few days with windows open.

On a more concerning note though, the current trend in the area seems to be trying door handles during the evening and where unlocked, running in and nicking your stuff while you're in the effing house!

[ARW]

I believe that this was an opportunist theft doing a smash and grab.

I caught one[1] on my CCTV across the road a few years back on a Sunday afternoon. A bloke with a 13 year old. They just walked up the street went to the house opposite, knocked on the door, when there was no answer (they even shouted through the letter box is anyone in) they went round the back and broke in through the kitchen window. They would not do that if there was an bell box on the house.

[1] As the camera is too far away to get an image of the two an arrest and conviction was made due to the audio on my CCTV. It gave away the first name of the adult.

To this day we have no idea why they targeted that house.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Don't most take their phones with them when they go out?

[F]

Happened to a friend. The electronics were replaced and then stolen seven days later almost to the hour.

[Jim K..]

For some it's the reassurance of knowing the property is still empty & not been interfered with whilst they have been out/away...