Are you safe in your home?

For most Britons, their home is their safe place. It’s a place to

come back to after a day at work, to raise a family in and to

relax in.

BUT HOW SAFE IS IT, REALLY?

The number of burglaries in the UK are falling.

This means there were an estimated:

How much will that cost you?

With burglaries an ever-present threat, it’s hard not to ask:

HOW DO YOU DEFEND YOUR HOME?

according to the Office for National Statistics, there were...

April 2015 and March 2016 - giving a burglary rate at 7 offences per 1,000 people

Even with decreased numbers, there’s still more than one burglary every minute.

In 2000, a Home Office study concluded

that the average burglary costs

£2,300 PER INCIDENT.

Adjusted for inflation, that figure is now

£3,600.

That’s not even counting the rise in commonly

stolen electronic devices such as smartphones,

which cost an average of £180 EACH,, and

laptops, which cost £692 EACH on average.

The incidents in 2016 were... and...

from the same period 10 years earlier (Jan-Dec 2005)

from just 20 years ago (Jan-Dec 1995).

DownDown32%71%

400,361 police-reported burglaries

According to price comparison site, MoneySuperMarket, London is more burglary prone than other

areas in the UK. In fact, the ten areas with the highest rate of burglary in the UK are in our capital:

Throughout history, people have made efforts to secure their homes to prevent the

theft of their belongings. This began with a number of weapons and tools before

morphing into the systems we use today.

Beginning with a simple wooden bolt across two brackets, locks in ancient history

progressed rapidly. In periods dating as far back as 2,000BC, Egyptians began using pin

tumbler locks made of wood that used a lock and key to provide access externally. This

would then be improved with metallic tumbler locks in Roman times.

The data also documents the UK postcodes with the lowest number of offences. If you live in

Harbury, Derry or Bishopston, it’s good news — you’re living in some of the UK’s safest areas.

Do you live in safety?

Securing your home a brief history

1,920burglaries

per day

80per

hour

1.33each

minute

Most burgled postcodes

Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

Safest postcodes

Montrose

Cockermouth,

Lorton & Buttermere

Bolton, Blackrod, Horwich,

Lostock, Rivington

Shirebrook,

Market Warsop

Harbury

Wallingford,

Berinsfield, Cholsey,

Dorchester

Badger Farm, Fulflood, Hursley,

Littleton & Harestock, Olivers Battery,

Pitt, St Cross (W), Stanmore, Weeke

Amesbury & Durrington

Bishopston, Blackpill, Caswell, Clyne,

Langland, Mumbles, Oystermouth,

Southgate, South Gower, West Cross

Derry, Cityside, Ballynagard,

Coshquin, Rosemount,

The Collon, Culmore

Insert key

keep key up and Pull bolt out

lift key to push pins upwards

1 2 3

Effective now?

Deadbolts and secure locks are still one of the most important factors in protecting

yourself against burglary.

Around 30% of all

burglaries are through

an open or unlocked

window or door.

A home without a security system is 300% more likely to be burgled.

Modern security systems came into being in the mid 1800s.

First electro-

magnetic alarm

system, created

by Augustus Pope

CCTV as a live

monitoring solution

for Germany’s V-2

rockets

First electrical

alarm system

company set up

by Edwin Holmes

Promoted

by American

contractors

Vericon

Home CCTV was

invented

by nurse Marie Van Brittan Brown

A combination of new security systems and older solutions is

proving very effective at repelling burglars and deterring crime.

Alarms are a big deterrent in the

U.S., with around...

Research by the University of

Leicester found that CCTV use

in Newcastle and King’s Lynn

reduced recorded offences in the

burglary and vehicle crime areas.

To defend your home, a combination of systems and common sense can prevent crime.

With the right methods in place, you’ll be able to deter potential burglars.

Take cues from history and install strong locks, lighting and experiment with alarms.

It’s a more expensive system

than most, with just

5% of the 1,292

Which? members

surveyed having home

CCTV systems installed.

Window locks, indoor lights on a timer, double

door locks and external motion sensor lights

were found to make a home almost...

of burglars surveyed admitting they avoid

houses with alarms in place.

than a home without security – according to

a study by the Royal Statistical Society.

Domesticated since ancient times, guard dogs were used in ancient Rome to protect property.

Poet Virgil said:

“Never, with them on guard, need you fear for your stalls a midnight thief.”

Modern security systems Alarms and CCTV

Ancient Rome

Effective now?

Effective now?

What’s effective in the modern age?

A study by the University of North Carolina surveyed

422 burglars to establish what put them off burgling a property.

In the US, the Castle Doctrine is a law that varies by state and governs a homeowner’s

right to attack an intruder to protect themselves, sometimes even with deadly force.

Confusingly, the current

UK legislation through the

Dangerous Dogs Act means that

you can be PROSECUTED IF YOUR DOG BITES A TRESPASSER IN YOUR

GARDEN.

But there is a DEFENCE if your

dog BITES A TRESPASSER INSIDE YOUR HOME.

Only a small percentage of the offenders said they’d

continue a burglary if there was a dog in the home.

A castle was a fortified holding, popular throughout Europe in response to the increase of raids and invasions.

They consisted of a number of defence mechanisms, such as:

Medieval Period

arrow slitsAreas for defenders

to attack with impunity.

High walls With large, sloped stone walls, castles

were almost impossible to climb.

Drawbridge A huge gate,

which would only be

lowered internally.

Moats Deep ditches

provided a preliminary

line of defence.

Most of us aren’t rich enough to afford a castle, or the multitude of guards you’d need to defend it.

However, make your home difficult to enter by...

REMOVING BINS NEAR YOUR

GARAGE

LOCKING YOUR

WINDOWS

Alarmed Properties

The future?

CCTV

defending your home

Locking up is vital

60% 50x safer

CCTV

LIGHTS TIMER MOTION SENSOR LIGHTS

WINDOW LOCKS

CCTV is still a relatively recent technology, but it has already been challenged by

personal CCTV systems available to smartphone and tablet owners.

With the price of technology dropping and home CCTV systems

now available for free through Android apps, the future looks bright.

A report by futurologist Dr Ian

Pearson suggested that we may

soon see INTELLIGENT ALARMS that can

communicate with one another,

DIRECTIONAL SOUND EMITTING ALARMS that

disorientate intruders and

even affordable ROBOTIC SECURITY GUARDS.

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courtesy of www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk

1853 1857 1942 1949 1966

IG5 Clayhall, Ilford

N11 New

Southgate district

TW5 Heston,

Cranford (north),

Osterley (west)

TW11 Teddington

N20 Whetstone district

EN4 Hadley Wood, Cockfosters,

East Barnet, New Barnet

IG2 Gants Hill,

Newbury Park,

Aldborough Hatch

IG4 Redbridge

SE21 South Tulse

Hill & Dulwich