Break Ins in ED

[FelicityNormal]

BlueOne Wrote:

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> When my place got done last month, my door was

> Chubbed and my neighbour's wasn't. My door was

> completely smashed off its frame, whereas hers

> pretty much just swung open! The violence of that

> was the scariest part about it.

>

> Not sure what the moral of the story is - we both

> got done, but my repair bill was a shocker, while

> hers was a locksmith job.

>

> I guess it just shows how determined they were

> going to get in Chubb or not

Yeah. What time of day was it when they broke in? Were the police helpful?

[BlueOne]

They got in between 6 and 6.30 which was really scary! My upstairs neighbour left at 6pm and my flat had a door on it. I got home at 6.30 pm and it was smashed to smithereens.

I've never been burgled so didn't know at the time that 999 was not the right number to ring, so I dialled 999 and sat there for three hours on my own with my coat on and the door dangling waiting for the police to arrive, hoping the intruders weren't going to swing back past my door if they were still at work upstairs.

I think if I had been less flustered and shaken, and more clued up as to which number to ring, I might have had someone round a bit sooner.

They were lovely though - very concerned and kind, but equally, wearied of the whole thing and pretty much resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be getting anything back. They had come from one burglary and heading over to deal with another.

[MrBen]

This thread was started when our three flats were broken into a fortnight ago. All three doors kicked in. The one with yale only - no damage. Mine trashed. New frame and door needed....we are also getting a London bar fitted on the communal door. Doesn't matter what time of day - ours was 1pm on a Wednesday in broad daylight!

Anyway....quick update...police recovered a mobile phone stolen from one of our flats from a guy caught breaking into a flat in Brixton. They cant prove he did ours but have charged him with handling stolen goods and breaking and entering. So well done the police for that one. They are on the case for more too....

The burlgar had taken a photo of himself on the phone! His description? 20 yrs old, black, baseball cap. No sign of his mates (as was a group did ours) or all my stolen stuff.

Edited to remove potentially in flammatory comments now that I have passed the "anger phase".:)

[tomrolls]

Have to add us to the list of burglaries now. Same as previous people have posted. Communal door only locked with a yale so it is very easy to get in. Then our front door kicked in at the bottom. The deadbolt,yale and door frame all held but the bottom half of the door didn't. Absolutely gutted but hopefully the police will find them (not optimistic though). It was on a Tuesday night between 8-10. The police have been excellent and we have received many calls from victim support, etc just annoying. Remember to dead bolt those front doors!

[northlondoner]

Yes, that sort of comment is not helpful and rather off-putting. Plus its buglAr not bruglEr.

[matthew123]

Fortunately my front door has not been kicked down - but am thinking of buying some CCTV cameras at ?50 a pop that hook up to your WiFi. Think they have some gear worth investing in at Maplins.

[Huguenot]

That's not a bad idea matthew123.

It seems that although there can be a lot of these crimes, they're often committed by very few people. I remember a gang of kids getting caught on the Bakerloo line a couple of years ago, whereupon that it was discovered that these 5 people had commiteed 600 of the 700 reported crimes on the line that year!

In that sense it's not always wise to invest even more resources in prevention (which assumes crime is a social disease), but upon identification and capture (which at least lays the crime at the feet of the perpetrators).

In-home CCTV set ups can be linked to internet servers via broadband connections, with the kit costing around 40 quid per camera, and the server cost only a couple of quid a month.

What price actually catching the bastards eh?

[Stephen]

red devil Wrote:

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> fractionater Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > DEADLOCKS GUYS DEADLOCKS!!!

> >

> > Yales don't even need bashing they can easily

> be

> > slipped with nothing more than a cut open

> plastic

> > coke bottle (I know because I used this method

> > years ago when I locke myself out of my flat)

>

> If you live in a communal block of flats and

> decide to deadlock the main entrance door, make

> sure the door can be opened in a panic situation

> e.g. fire escape, this might be a condition of

> your buildings insurance...you could leave a key

> in the communal hallway, but make sure it's not on

> view to would-be burglars!

I know the thread has been running for a bit since this post, but please don't put deadlocks on the doors of communal areas that need keys to open them from the inside - this is illegal and as has been pointed out can be very dangerous in the event of a fire.

All escape route doors from communal areas must be able to be opened without keys, so only deadlocks with knobs on the inside.

FWIW if you're adding new locks I'd recommend Banhams - they have hook bolts which prevent the door being pushed out of the frame. Go direct and they will fit for you and guarantee it. And hinge bolts on the other side. Then as long as your frame is secure it isn't going to go anywhere.

Like this:

http://www.banhams.co.uk/images/m2003a.gif

Hope this helps,

S

[brum]

Great advice Stephen. I agree, avoid keys for communal doors at all costs. I changed the lock of my communal door to the type with a turn-knob on the inside soon after moving in, because the last thing you need if your ass is on fire is to fumble around in the smoke looking for a damn key. In fact, as a fireman my advice to anyone who's busy converting their humble abode into Fort Knox as I write this is that whatever security measures you take, remember you/your family may need to get out fast if the worst happens.