Keep your home secure this autumn

Keep your home secure this autumn
Five minute read
Published: 16 Nov 2018

Hertfordshire Constabulary is reminding residents to keep their homes secure and report suspicious behaviour during the darker winter evenings.

During the autumn and winter months burglaries often increase, so the police have been focusing on targeting burglars and sharing home security advice in the run up to Christmas.

In order to secure your home, the police have been sharing their top tips to keep your belongings safe.

Here are some of the best ways to keep your home secure:

· Ensure doors are double locked at all times and keep your windows closed and locked.

· Consider installing a doorbell camera, internal camera and/or a monitored burglar alarm.

· Give your home a ‘lived-in’ look by installing some external lighting and using timer switches in your home to control internal lights, radios and televisions.

· Keep keys and valuables secure and out of sight.

· Ensure boundary fences are secure, and that your side gates are locked. Keep tools and ladders in a locked shed.

· Join Hertfordshire’s Neighbourhood Watch for alerts and advice: www.owl.co.uk

· Visit www.owlprotect.uk for discounts on security products.

· For more crime prevention advice, head to www.herts.police.uk/protectyourhome and www.hertscitizensacademy.org

As well as these tips, you could consider installing some of the new security devices which have come onto the market lately. There are now a variety of affordable gadgets you can use, including security lights, wifi-enabled doorbells and interior cameras fitted with motion sensors which allow you to monitor your home using your phone. These kinds of devices can be easily installed at low costs, and they’ve proven to be success in preventing burglaries across the country.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd said: “Making your home as secure as possible is the best way to keep your home and valuables safe. Making use the latest security products can add that extra bit of security and may help police to catch those involved in criminal activity. Whilst crime is comparatively low in Hertfordshire, burglaries often rise during the autumn and winter, so residents should do all they can to prevent themselves becoming a victim, by making sure their homes are secure, reporting suspicious behaviour and joining a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.”

Inspector Andrew Palfreyman from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Crime Reduction Unit said: “There have been some great advances in home security technology and the costs are coming down all the time. Whilst it is still important to remember to secure windows and double-lock PVCu doors, there are now security cameras and lighting that can help to make your home even safer.

“Criminals will always prefer to target unoccupied homes. If you give your home a lived-in look, by using a timer switch to turn on a light, radio or TV, criminals are more likely to avoid your home.”