Thieves and burglars seem to think we’re easy pickings and not too fussed about our valuables, property or personal belongings. We actually make it easy for them to take our stuff. Why would I say such a thing. We’ll here’s some examples of how easy we make it for thieves and burglars that we have all been guilty of at some point in time.

Snow Dropping Clothes

Clothes drying on a washing line are easy targets for thieves looking to upgrade their fashion range. Most of the time this type of theft is down to people leaving out there washing well into the evening or even at night-time mostly through forgetfulness. Installing security lights in your garden that will come on in the evening and deter potential intruders is the best way to deal with snow dropping thieves.

Back Pocket Wallets

Why do people still carry their wallets in their back pocket. Its an ideal target for pickpockets when they see the unmistakable bump in your trousers or jeans back pocket. If you have to carry wallets around with you then placing them in your front pocket is a much wiser decision especially in crowded areas.

Keys Left in the Ignition

A large percentage of people still leave keys in the ignition of their car because there just popping down to the shops or paying for petrol and it only takes a few minutes. It takes a car thief seconds to enter your vehicle and drive off. Break the habit of giving someone the opportunity of stealing your car – simple vehicle security : lock doors and windows and never leave your car keys in the ignition.

My Password is Password

The majority of us are on-line and we have accounts holding various information about ourselves including bank or credit card details. Security should be at the forefront of all our thoughts when we select our passwords. Having your password as ‘password’ or ‘letmein’ is just asking for trouble. Keep your details secure, mix up your password with an alapha-numeric password and no less than 6 characters length. Remember, identity theft is a fast rising profitable area for thieves don’t help them by having easy-to-work-out passwords for your computer or on-line profiles.

Leaving House Windows Open

The summertime brings with it good weather if we’re lucky enough – unfortunately good weather also brings with it the chance of opportunity for house burglars as we leave windows open to cool down the house. You can install window security that will help protect your home from an intruder or take it to the next level and get CCTV installed in your home.

We hope these tips will make your realise that bad habits, forgetfulness or sometimes just sheer laziness in protecting your possessions is what makes a thief or burglar’s job all the more easy.

The amount of oil held in the average outdoor central heating oil tank is probably worth at least £1200 and is now making it a real target for thieves.  Terry Rattee, Managing Director of Crime Prevention Products said “When you hear that thieves are already stealing petrol and diesel from cars parked up in the street because of the high cost of fuel at the moment, it was obvious that it wouldn’t be long before they  realised the huge profits to be made by stealing heating oil.”

There are two things that can be done to help prevent this type of crime. The first is to install a Driveway Alarm in the vicinity of the Oil Tank so that if anyone goes in the area of the tank, an alarm or chime is sent wirelessly to a receiver unit in the house.  (You may even fit additional movement detectors elsewhere around the garden which will send a signal to the same receiver unit inside). This way, the occupier is made aware of the movement and can take the necessary steps to stop the theft early.

The second is to secure the storage tank using a  Chaperone Siren Padlock Alarm which is robustly made and will trigger a 110 decibel two-tone alarm if tampered with!  Although the alarm stops after 10 seconds of inactivity, it will immediately re-sound if moved again and not many thieves want to hang around when such an alarm is going off, for fear of being caught.

Terry added “This Padlock Alarm is corrosion resistant and made with a hardened zinc alloy body and will sound off whether moved or subjected to shock (like being hit with a hammer or jemmy).  It is weather resistant and the batteries can only be accessed when the padlock has been unlocked.”

POLICE officers have been conducting house to house inquiries in areas of Ramsey in relation to the ongoing investigation into a series of suspected arson incidents.  Two suspicious fires have now occurred in the town during the last 3 weeks.   The second happened at property in the Summerland area when a take- away food container was pushed into the letterbox and set alight.

A spokesman for the Northern Neighbourhood Policing Team said: ‘We are trying to gather as much information as possible and I am grateful for our community’s continued support and co-operation.”

If anyone has concerns about the security of their property, with particular regard to their letterbox access, you can get  Anti Arson Letterboxes  (see example right)  and metal Visor Guards (see below) which will defeat the criminal, hands down!

The Fireproof letterbox contains a small polymer tube filled with  Ozone-Friendly FE-25 which will extinguish any fire within seconds, AND prevent it from re-igniting!

The Visor Guard helps prevent anyone reaching in through the letterbox to unlock the door or even to see much if they just try and peek in because they can only look downwards.  

Police are also hunting an arsonist who struck at a house in Dalton last week. A number of firefighters battled to stop the blaze spreading through the mid-terrace house in Harpe Inge, after being called at 2.45am. Petrol had been used to fuel the fire, which ripped through the downstairs rooms and spread to the rest of the house.  Smoke pouring from the blaze forced occupants of the adjoining houses to flee. 

Finally, in yet another attack an explosion which partially demolished a house in the West Midlands is being treated as arson, police have said. The blast in Smethwick, just before 5pm caused a severe fire and 3 people living at the three-storey semi-detached home were accounted for and a number of nearby neighborus were taken into temporary accommodation overnight.