Burglaries - be aware!

[JoceAndChris]

My parents were burgled on Wednesday night. They broke in through the French doors and then crowbar'd open the locked inner doors. They threw every drawer's contents on the floor, opened every Christmas present, ( rejected them, though ruining her days if careful wrapping and beribboning) and took all the jewellery and petty cash.

The police had been very suspicious of some men with a van for a while and had been watching them. Yesterday this developed into a chase across Lincolnshure, culminating in a fight on the fields where the men tried very desperately but unsuccessfully to get away. They will be going to prison, their van was absolutely heaving with stuff. Mum's engagement ring and wedding ring and one pendant were found in the thief's pocket, however the other pieces are missing still.

I'm posting this because such losses could have been avoided if she'd taken her jewellery with her, and not kept petty cash in the house.

The best thing to do with jewellery if you don't want to carry it off on your travels is to split it up and distribute it in odd places - who would find a pearl necklace in a hosepipe? Or a ring in a jar of screws? Or a pendant in a bag of flour? Laptops, etc ought to be taken with you or hidden well - who would look through the newspapers in the hen house?

The locking of inner doors seems pointless if they're just going to crowbar them open like that. The thing that grieves me still about our burglary last year is the damage done to the Regency doors; they'll never be the same again. I sort of wish I'd left them open.

 

[biffvernon]

That's awful - just read your post on facebook.

I've long argued that serious locks on doors and windows don't prevent burglaries, but just result in more damage. Insurance companies that insist on fancy locks are part of the problem, not part of the solution. A perpetual arms race between the good guys and the bad guys is not the answer.

I've a theory, which I guess will never be tested though may be food for thought, that if nobody ever locked their door again the number of burglaries would not increase.

 

[Flyfisher]

I'm very sorry to read your sad news Joce, though you make a lot of valid points in your suggestions. I'd just add that, fortunately, it's now possible to protect many family treasures such as photos, videos and documents, by duplicating them and storing them away from the home. I duplicate all my important 'stuff' on a regularly updated external hard drive and don't keep it in the house. Sadly, this is not an option for jewellery and other physical treasures. Hopefully much of your parents belongings will be recovered since the police apprehended the culprits.

I also agree with Biff's points about locks, though not only will the theory never be tested, I don't think it could be because I suspect crime would soar if it became known that homes were always unlocked.

As a teenager, my parents were brave enough to allow me to have a party at home while they went away on holiday and the idea was for me to join them later. The party went well and a couple of friends helped me clear up the inevitable mess the following morning (nothing untoward) and I carefully checked the back door and all windows were closed before I left to join my parents on holiday for two weeks.

On our return, my parents were very pleased about how clean and tidy I'd left the house until it was discovered that the french windows in one of the rooms were wide open. I had not realised that they had been opened during the party and my 'thorough' checking before leaving was obviously only to teenage standards. But nobody had been in the house (or if they had, they didn't take anything), which was in suburban north London.

 

[Feltwell]

That's horrible Joce.

My in-laws ran a security company for many years, mostly installing alarms and then remotely monitoring domestic properties - they did commercial work as well, but domestic was their mainstay. As they lived in a small town, a personal local service was everything - they used to arrange for lawns to be cut when people were away, fish to be fed, they even fed cats and walked dogs on occasions!

As you can imagine my father-in-law saw many domestic burglaries - often upgrading the security after the event, he worked very closely with the local crime prevention officer. He knew the local police very well, he employed several retired officers on a casual basis for locking up and alarm response work.

My father-in-law always maintained that if someone really wants to get in then they will, the trick was making the property unattractive because either they think they will be caught or it's just too much work to get in. He always advised against locking internal doors - once a burglar is in, they will think nothing of making a small amount of noise breaking through internal doors because no one will hear them. The fact an internal door is locked makes it more attractive, as it implies there is something of value behind it - otherwise why would someone bother to lock it?

For small valuables, an underfloor safe is quite affordable, about £50 upwards, and easy to install in a house with floorboards.

http://www.esafes.co.uk/-yale-floor-safe?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=feedmanager

Hiding items such as you say is a good idea, but is not always very convenient and if you're anything like me you'd forget where you'd hidden things!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for all the very kind posts. The main thing is that Mum and Dad were absent and unharmed when it took place. Let's hope nobody here suffers over the Christmas period.

 

[Penners]

Joce, my sincere sympathies to your parents. What a terrible thing to happen. It's not just the loss of property (hopefully all now recovered, or in the process of same) but the awful feeling that your home has been violated by these b@st@rds.

Your advice about hiding things is excellent, although I should add (with no hint of flippancy) that if you're going to spread your belongings around in obscure places like that, it's important to keep some kind of note of what you've hidden where.

The last time we got back from holiday, it took me almost a week to remember where my backup hard-drive had been secreted - no joke. But perhaps younger brains would run less of a risk of forgetfulness.

 

[middi]

Burglaries are soul destroying. All materialistic possessions can be insured and the market value recovered, but how does one recover the value of possessions that have no market value but of pure sentimental importance.

39 years ago we were burgled a few months after our first son died from leukemia, the usual stuff was taken such as tv, recorder, bits of jewellery , the furnuture was slashed etc. The most important( to us) and irreplacebable item was a pewter tankard with a small silver top ring, name engraved, presented to my son for his third birthday. ( i think we received a few pounds for that item from the insurance).
To this day I still wonder if the thieves would have taken it if they had realised it's sentimental importance.

I fully understand how your parents must feel Jose.

Middi

 

[Penners]

To this day I still wonder if the thieves would have taken it if they had realised it's sentimental importance.

You have a more generous spirit than I have, Middi. I'm afraid I believe that knowledge of the sentimental value to you wouldn't have made one iota of difference to them.

How heartbreaking for you.

 

[middi]

I have to agree Penners. Low life has no morals.

Middi

 

[JoceAndChris]

Middi - that is just so sad and I'm sorry to reawaken such a painful memory.

Mr P - thank you for your words of sympathy. Mum has little hope of recovering her jewellery collection as the van has now been searched. The police wonder if the items were chucked out of the van window during the chase, so that the culprits would be less incriminated. When we have found out the route, we will walk it. However it would be pretty amazing if they were lying in a ditch not picked up. There are cameos, a gold watch, a butterfly brooch with rubies and saphires and emeralds in the wings, two pearl necklaces and brooch, various pendants and gold chains, a Cleopatra style necklace. I like to think that if I found such a horde in a field I'd hand it in to a police station but it would perhaps prove too tempting to believe they'd never be returned to the original owner even if one were to do the honest thing. We'll just have to hope.

And you're absolutely right about recording where you've put stuff!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Joce, we are both horrified to hear what has happened, and are so relieved that your Parents were not there at the time. You never know, your walk may be productive- The other possibility is that they may have a cache somewhere to which they would later return to collect things that would not fit in the 'swag bag'.

LOL J & J xx

 

[LadyArowana]

So sorry to hear your news Joce, retracing their route might turn up something, it's certainly worth trying.

 

[brokendelphroom]

Joce, what an awful experience for your parents. I know that awful feeling of knowing someone has been through your personal belongings and snooping around your house, we have been robbed on several occasions. Its a terrible experience. In fact, last Friday night i literally was looking burglars in the face as they sat in a car outside our house. It turns out that they were striping the church, opposite our house of its lightning conductors. I became suspicious of them as we live just outside a village and they parked in a fairly isolated spot, at the gates to our farmyard. The farm has been robbed before too and i felt uneasy seeing a car full of people in such a funny place. I walked passed the car at least three times looking at them and examining their car. I then searched the farmyard with the dogs. I felt my conscience was clear as they had pulled away and the farmyard was untouched. You can imagine the shock then on Sunday morning when we discovered the conductors had been cut off and the remainder left dangling off the side of the church. The only consolation is that i got their reg number and the make and colour of car along with a description of the burglars. The worst part of this, and nearly all robberies is the hassle and problems that comes after with insurance companies and the expense of repairing and replacing the stolen goods. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil!

Paul.

 

[philpjuk100]

To this day I still wonder if the thieves would have taken it if they had realised it's sentimental importance.



Middi

Middi,you are too understanding! I remember one of your prievious posts concerning burning sheds,vices and blunt knives! some folks are just plain bad! this has obviously upset you for many years and the culprit probably made a few bob for it which got sniffed up his nose or needled into his arm,hanging is too good for them! phil

 

[Nigel Watts]

Terrible thing to happen. For jewelery there is no substitute for a safe, which must be bolted securely to the floor.

 

[tobydog]

Joce - sorry to hear your news. I've had two cars broken into and one stolen but when it comes to your own home it's a completely different matter. We have been somewhat on edge recently because our next door neighbour was burgled last month. They were in bed at the time and the burglars broke in through the patio doors. They took a laptop and coat but legged it when an automatic light came on.

We have now got extra bolts for our patio doors and converted a stable back door to a single door by way of a big metal bracket joining the two sections. That was always a weak point because burglars could smash the small top window and reach in and open the top section. It's a shame but necessary.

We have a dog and, whilst burglars will most likely always get in if they want to, we hope they will now have to make enough noise to get in to start him barking.

 

[Feltwell]

We have been somewhat on edge recently because our next door neighbour was burgled last month. They were in bed at the time and the burglars broke in through the patio doors. They took a laptop and coat but legged it when an automatic light came on.

I do rather like having an alarm system for that very reason - we part set it at night so the downstairs sensors are on, but the upstairs ones are not. The kids are well versed to only go downstairs if mum or dad have been down first and turned the alarm off, they have only set it off once!

Pets are not a problem by the way - you can get "pet-proof" sensors which ignore objects up to a certain weight, our old collie dog never set the alarm off. For that reason our toddler doesn't set it off either, but our 5 year old does, so they'd have to be seriously small burglars to get round that one.

Of course it does mean you have to have visible sensors (and LBC if you're listed presumably), but they are quite small and discrete these days. Wiring is a bit of pain but it is at least very small & flexible wire. I've not heard anything good about the "wireless" DIY systems.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I love our burglar alarm, but you can't set it at night because of the curious layout of the house, and inevitably walking through the zones after setting. It was so so so complicated to instal, taking nearly a week for two men, and costing several hundred a year, (it's linked to a call centre and the police) but it gives welcome peace of mind with us being so isolated. As Feltwell says, pets aren't a problem, nor even the wrens and sparrows who live in the workshop in winter. And I find the sensors discreet.

Thnaks for all the words of sympathy regarding parents.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Joce - SWMBO just pointed out that listing your parents valuables in public might be a bit of a security risk if they are ever returned - as is posting you don't set your alarm at night... :shock:

I'm not going to post that we have machine guns, Alsations and landmines in case any of the scroats want to come here... I'd like to see them maimed unexpectedly.

As posted in Another Place, I'm so sorry about your parents break in. A thrashing followed by branding is too good for the little b@astards. I trust their sentence is as severe as those who rioted over the summer - the fear it causes is on a similar scale I'd warrant.

 

[Feltwell]

There's a multitude of options with linking. Sounds likes Joce's got a full monitoring service, but you can go cheaper.

Most simple is just an unlinked alarm, but that's only of use if someone is actually likely to hear it! We have got plenty of neighbours close by but I did put an automated dialler on ours, if the alarm goes off it calls my mobile and delivers a pre-recorded message. It rings a series of numbers in turn until it gets a response. The dialler was about £50 and of course there is no annual charge.

The security company that locks up my ex-works premises will respond for a fixed fee if I call them.

Joce, if you really wanted to you could part-set the system from your bedroom, I know my in-laws put that option in several remote houses with odd layouts. Usually they put a seperate hardwired keypad in that room, but you can get a remote control - much like one in a car key for your car's central locking - whereby you press the button to set the alarm. They are designed for use so you can set the alarm from outside the house, but no reason why they wouldn't work from inside the house, and of course that means no need to run more cables round the place - it's an extra box connected to the main alarm controller box I think. The part set is then so that if anyone sets a zone off the alarm beeps for a certain period before going off properly, i.e. to give you time to get to the keypad, so no midnight scrambling for a remote when you've just absent-mindendly triggered a sensor!

As a matter of interest, what did the company put in your workshop? I need to alarm my garage - it's seperate to the house and will be on a seperate system. I think I remember my father-in-law telling me some time ago to just use door contacts and not fit PIR sensors, as they don't like spiders and putting them in outhouses tends to generate false alarms. I can't ask him anymore as he died a couple of years ago.

Final bit on alarms - be careful with Christmas decorations! The in-laws were always very busy with call-outs around Christmas - people would put decorations in front of the sensors :roll: but also just decorations falling down can set the sensors off. That coupled with lots of people being away made it a very busy period for them!