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