Breakins

Mullie

fishdog wrote: »

We have had no problems since the scheme was set up, but we did before that.

I'm not sure I'd class 3 breakins Charlesland Court over the past 6 months as no problems. And thats only the ones that I know of, 2 on my block and one backing onto us.
I've found the Gardai in Greystones to be helpful too. But removing post or having a car in a driveway won't deter a burgular. Its a nice thing to do for your neighbours and gives us some peace of mind. In the 3 examples I mentioned, there were people IN the house, so giving the illusion of someone being in the house is hardly a deterrant.

Charlie-Bravo

Mullie wrote: »

I've found the Gardai in Greystones to be helpful too. But removing post or having a car in a driveway won't deter a burgular.

An interesting thing that was mentioned to me is that potential burglars can check if your alarm is on...I know it's been mentioned to tap on the windows to see if the vibrations set off the alarm, but there's another way they don't even need to do that...

If the burglar knows that you would have an alarm panel on the wall somewhere beside the front door, and you happen to have a mirror or glazed picture frame on the opposite wall, they can catch the reflection of the power light on the mirror or picture by simply looking through your front door. If they can see the power light and no flashing 'alarm active' light then they are sure there's no alarm on. So you might consider how you furnish your entrance hall! hope this helps in prevention.

fishdog

I'm not sure I'd class 3 breakins Charlesland Court over the past 6 months as no problems

I agree, but I dont live in Charlesland. Our estate is not too far away and we have had no problems at all since neighbourhood watch was set up a few years ago.

But removing post or having a car in a driveway won't deter a burgular

You may be right, but it all helps and so far so good. Perhaps it just demonstrates to burgulars that we look out for each other here.

If they can see the power light and no flashing 'alarm active' light then they are sure there's no alarm on.

I would agree that this would be true if you have the type of alarm that has this type of light. Off the top of my head I cant think of any alarms that have such a light and in the past I installed alarms all the time (although I am not saying you are wrong). I would imagine they generally dont for the very reason you described.

I would suggest that everyone that has an alarm arms it as much as possible anyway, even when they are at home. It is a shame when someone has spent the money installing an alarm and gets broken into simply because they did not set it. The sad thing is this happens a lot. The other problem is that the people that mention that they have an alarm on their insurance policy (to avail of the discount) will find that their policy is null and void if the alarm was not set! Yes, the insurance company can check if it was set!!

ciaran67

astrofluff wrote: »

An interesting thing that was mentioned to me is that potential burglars can check if your alarm is on...I know it's been mentioned to tap on the windows to see if the vibrations set off the alarm, but there's another way they don't even need to do that...

If the burglar knows that you would have an alarm panel on the wall somewhere beside the front door, and you happen to have a mirror or glazed picture frame on the opposite wall, they can catch the reflection of the power light on the mirror or picture by simply looking through your front door. If they can see the power light and no flashing 'alarm active' light then they are sure there's no alarm on. So you might consider how you furnish your entrance hall! hope this helps in prevention.

A mate of mine back in London had his new porsche nicked by the thief noticing his car keys on a table in the hall while looking through the letterbox. He used a pole to lift them. I would imagine that most burglars round Charlesland will be quite quick seeing as the house fronts are open and clear of hedges.