6
Jul
2015
By Calvin at 12:59 GMT, 8 years ago
Last week in my short article ‘Heat wave Crime wave’ I talked about the inevitability of people getting burgled through an unsecured door or window during the hot weather and then went on to give you my thoughts about how we could enjoy both fresh air and security at the same time.
Well, needless to say, a headline on Sunday in the online newspaper ‘This is the Westcountry’ confirmed what I foresaw. It reads: WARNING: Bridgwater burglars target unsecure windows and break in through doors
You can read the story for yourself, but the gist of it tells us that there were six burglaries in Bridgater in June and three of them were through insecure doors and windows:
- Overnight thieves stole a bag and phone from a house in Durleigh Road while the family slept. They got in through an insecure window
- Overnight thieves stole a laptop, charger and speakers from a home in Wembdon Road. They got in through an insecure window
- Overnight thieves got into a home in the Wembdon Road area through an insecure door to steal a handbag
Note how all these were overnight break-ins where the residents had left windows open for air and in one case had forgotten to lock a door properly. From the limited information in the story I conclude that these three burglaries were completely preventable and therefore unnecessary.
Interestingly, the other three burglaries were either only partially successful or completely unsuccessful because the residents had sufficient security in place. That said, damage was caused in all three and one wonders whether, if these doors were around the back or side of the property, if more could have been done to prevent access to them.
Here’s the three ‘unsuccessful’ burglaries
- A house door was damaged in Northgate, but entry was not made
- Damage was caused to a house door in Kendale Road, but entry not successful
- A shed was broken into in Northfield and then the tools taken were used unsuccessfully to force open a house door
The police in Bridgwater have since been leafleting the affected areas. The local Inspector has advised residents to join Neighbourhood Watch, install security lights and keep back and side gates locked. He also provides a little advice about shed security and asks people to call in if they see suspicious characters hanging about.
On top of these house burglaries, June also saw twelve burglaries and attempts on sheds and garages, but that’s another story for another day.
The way to prevent these unnecessary crimes is for the people of Bridgwater and elsewhere around the country to heed the numerous warnings they’re given by the police, the media and the local Neighbourhood Watches. You see, the police know that hot weather means a surge in burglaries through open windows, they know the autumn clock change means a spike in early evening break-ins and they know that people attending open-air crowded events are more likely to have personal items stolen from them. The difficulty is not how to get that message out to as many people as possible, but how to get them to listen and act upon the advice – answers on a postcard to me please!
And while on the subject of crime prevention messages I think it’s a shame the government aren’t running a campaign on the TV at the moment, during Big Brother or the John Bishop show etc. This was their last public information film, which I thought was pretty good and made us think, but we need more!
Source This is the Westcountry: http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/13367414.WARNING__Bridgwater_burglars_target_unsecure_windows_and_break_in_through_doors/
TV Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K8zUO7YV2s
