Police and Safer Bristol expect 1,000 homes to be burgled in the city in the next three months

Release Date:  26-Jan-2010

Bristol’s priority crime team want to help prevent your home being one of those thousand.

Councillor Gary Hopkins, Bristol City Council Cabinet Member for the Environment and Community Safety, said: “Although burglary rates are going down steadily we want to ensure everyone knows the simple precautions to take to reduce their chance of being burgled.

“The Safer Homes scheme, funded by the Council, has played a major part in helping people prevent burglaries.  “By working together local people, the police and Safer Bristol can all play their part to radically cut the numbers of houses broken in to.”

Richard Kelvey, Detective Chief Inspector on the burglary team, said: “We know from previous statistics that there are likely to be 1,000 homes burgled in Bristol in the next three months.

“We want to do everything we can to reduce that number and we are working hard but we need the public to be aware of how to make themselves and their homes less vulnerable to burglary.

“When you think that there are roughly 250,000 households in the Bristol area 1,000 seems like a small number, so you may think it is unlikely to be you. But we know that if it does happen to you, being burgled is more than just the inconvenience of an insurance claim. It can have a real impact on the way people live their lives, their wellbeing and how safe they feel.

“The most important thing is making people living in Bristol and across Avon and Somerset feel safe and be safe.”

Some of the most common ways a burglar will break in is to force doors and windows.
The best protection against this is to have appropriate and strong locks.

Surprisingly, around 300 of all those burglaries expected to take place will happen because someone forgets to lock a back door or leaves a window open. It is easily done when you are rushing to get out of the door for work or to get the kids to school - making the property insecure and giving thieves easy access.

Another method for burglars is smashing a small window or glass panel in a front or back door in order to put a hand through and unlock it - which is why keys should never be left in back doors or on nearby surfaces.

Some burglars will even go as far as removing outside beading around a glass window and just remove the whole pane.

Rich Reid is a carpenter who works for the Safer Homes team.  They are a team of specialist carpenters, funded by Bristol City Council and headed by the police crime reduction unit in Bristol.

They visit the homes of burglary victims and more vulnerable homes in the city to improve security by fitting better locks for free and giving advice among other things.

Rich said: “It’s the smallest and simplest things that many of us could do to make our homes that little bit safer and a little less attractive to thieves.

“Things like putting a guard on the inside of your letterbox to stop people being able to put their hands through. It’s also important to make sure you use all the locks on your doors, like deadlocks as even body pressure can pop a latch lock.

“If you would like any advice on how to protect your property from burglary look on the Avon and Somerset website at the crime reduction section or call the Safer Homes team.”

People are also advised to keep hard copy photos, receipts and descriptive records of their property as well registering it on national property database Immobilise so that it can be identified in the event it is stolen.

TOP TIPS FOR PROTECTING YOUR HOME!

Lock it or lose it - always make sure you secure windows and doors before leaving your home, using ALL locks, including deadlocks and bolts on windows and doors.

If you have an alarm system ALWAYS set it before going out even if it’s only for a few minutes.

Don’t advertise your home to thieves - never leave valuable items on display in windows.

Never leave packaging for expensive items out in the recycling box all week: either put it out on the morning it’s due to be collected or take it to the tip.

If you have a side or back lane on your house make sure it is gated and well lit, so as to not give easy access to your property.

Use a switch timer and leave a radio on when you go out.
 

Author:  Vicky O'Loughlin, Media Officer, 0117 92 23463

For all media enquiries relating to this press release, please contact Corporate Communications on 0117 922 2650.

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