Crimes against property are often organised ahead of time, but burglars and vandals can be opportunistic. If your property is visibly secure, you minimise the risk of being targeted at any time during the day or night. Still, you’re particularly less attractive for spur of the moment crime. Something as simple as the lights being left on and the house appearing occupied can deter a burglar away from your property, even if they planned to enter in advance.
Here are our tips when you’re looking to apply preventive security to your property, and how we recommend that you deter criminals from your house.
Apparent CCTV
Obvious CCTV around the outside of your property is a significant deterrent. No burglar wants to be identified, and your common thief doesn’t have the expertise it would take to bypass those cameras or those guards altogether.
This method can seem extreme in a well-known and safe neighbourhood, but if you feel particularly at threat or have been robbed in the past, a domestic CCTV system could be a great solution for you. It is instantly clear to passers-by that you are concerned with the safety and security of your property, and you are therefore less attractive to target.
When recording the surroundings of your property with CCTV, you must make it clear that capturing is taking place with a sign. If the cameras aren’t visible, this sign will act as your deterrent. It is also worth noting that your recorded material is subject to data protection laws if it is pointed to capture the public.
A Burglar Alarm
Similarly to a CCTV system, a burglar alarm can act as a great deterrent when visible outside of your property. Any sign that theft won’t be easy to get away with quietly means that the entire job is less appealing. Modern burglar alarms can be audible only, generating a loud siren when triggered, or they can dial the police immediately, which isn’t ideal for any thief to deal with.
Burglar alarms, just like any security measure, can be bypassed. But the visual presence of an alarm alone means that your property is less attractive than unprotected houses around your estate! This is vital when there is a considerable amount of crime in your area.
Some non-audible alarms even can text your phone or a neighbour when triggered without starting an alarm sound, meaning that thieves believe they’ve entered your home without detection, but you’re ready to call the police for safety.
Security Guards or Mobile Patrols
A physical presence is really effective for protecting business premises. When your office space is otherwise unoccupied, a mobile patrol is an excellent method to deter thieves away. Unpatrolled areas are easy for burglars to assess for entry points, and record a potential floor plan with little fear of getting caught. Noticeable movement of mobile patrols around your premises makes that job much more difficult, as thieves can’t freely move around your building without being seen, and there are no guarantees that your property will ever be empty to burgle.
Your patrolled building is much less attractive to opportunist thieves than surrounding businesses with alarms that can be bypassed. The unpredictable schedule of a mobile patrol means that their visits can be timed all 24 hours randomly, and teams of burglars can’t properly plan a break-in with certainty that a mobile patrol won’t catch and report them.
Sometimes the most powerful type of security is the preventive kind. Deterring criminals away from your property from the very beginning is the quickest, most effective way to protect yourself from robbery.
