The Best Ways To Deter Thieves From Targeting Your Home

A home burglary takes place every 40 seconds in the UK, and 47% of these are ‘spur of the moment’ crimes that occur when would-be thieves come across the right opportunity. To make sure that your home isn’t their next target, it’s important to gain an updated understanding of how modern-day burglars operate as this will help you to select the best security methods to deter them from trespassing on your property! 

Understanding The Motivation of a Burglar 

Although the cover of darkness is certainly an attractive prospect for burglars, they’re also aware that many people are at home during the evenings which is why it makes sense that the majority of burglaries occur between 10 am and 3 pm. Unless you have a particularly notable property, it’s unlikely that thieves will have been scoping it out much or monitoring your movements before attempting to break-in. Instead, it’s probable that they’ll have chanced upon your home and seen various signs that it might be an easy job for them. With a lack of security devices such as CCTV on show, and perhaps some mistakes on the part of the homeowner such as an open window, a break-in can occur in a flash. 

Visual Deterrents 

Now you’re aware that burglars tend to operate based on chance rather than preplanning, it’s important to put various security strategies in place to dissuade this type of attack from occurring on your property. 

Automated Security Gates

Essentially, you’re looking to make a robbery of your home as difficult as you can, which is why you should start where possible by installing automated security gates at the front entrance of your home. These gates are strong, durable and very challenging for thieves to get over without attracting plenty of unwanted attention. 

CCTV Surveillance 

Coupling security methods together creates a stronger barrier against criminals, which is why security gates work so well alongside CCTV cameras. A panel of experts from Coop Insurance name CCTV as being the number one deterrent for both home thieves and car thieves. When burglars see that CCTV cameras are in place, they don’t want to take the risk of their criminal actions being monitored. Modern CCTV surveillance allows the cameras to zoom in to provide close-up detail of both car licence plates or a person’s face, making it more likely that a burglar would be identified if caught on film. 

The Appearance of Being Home 

Burglars are concerned about the possibility of being disturbed or caught red-handed carrying out a robbery, so homeowners can take steps to appear to be at home, even when they’re not. Setting lights on automatic timers if you’re away for any duration and having a dog barking when someone approaches the property are both excellent security measures which are simple to put into place. If you’re not a dog owner, you can invest in a sensor-activated barking guard dog alarm instead. 

Keep Your Valuables Out Of Sight 

In the past, burglars targeted technology such as televisions, stereos or DVD players along with watches and jewellery when carrying out a robbery. Although luxury items might still hold some worth, the value of TVs has decreased substantially, and thieves would rather not be seen trying to smuggle such bulky items down the street. Your modern-day burglar is more interested in picking up items such as your passports, credit cards, personal data or perhaps smaller tech such as mobile phones to slip into their pockets. Make sure that you leave valuables such as these out of sight, preferably secured in a small domestic safe. 

Burglar Alarms 

As a final measure of defence against criminals invest in a contemporary burglar alarm system, so that if all else fails and they still decide to target your property, then you’ll have the peace of mind that your home security system will raise the alert. Thieves don’t want to operate with a loud alarm system going off in the background, particularly with the knowledge that current burglar alarms are connected to response units who may attend the site at any second.

Innov8 Security is proud to safeguard homes across the counties of Hertfordshire and Essex as well as neighbouring areas in north-east London. We can provide and install a wide range of security packages including CCTV systems, burglar alarms, automated gates and access control units, with maintenance offered as ongoing support. 

If you’d like to discuss how we can help you to fully secure your home from the threat of opportunist thieves, get in touch with our team of security specialists today and we’ll book you in for a FREE, no-obligation security assessment of your property. Get in touch today on 01279 305922.