PCSO Alan Newman writes:

At present the St Neots and other sectors are experiencing a series of Dwelling Burglaries. These are taking place in a fairly random geographical pattern but rural villages and isolated properties have been particularly targeted.

In almost all cases entry has been gained by offender(s) accessing the rear of properties and forcing or smashing a window or door to gain entry. The majority of victims have been away at the time of the offence.

Additional police patrols have been instigated and intelligence-led investigation of known nominals is taking place. This will hopefully result in the arrest of offenders in the near future.

Most burglaries happen when a house is empty. They are also most likely to happen in the evening or at night. It is imperative that residents take responsibility for the security of their homes by applying as many of the following guidelines as is practicable.
 
Garden access:

  • Make access to the rear of your property as difficult as possible by padlocking gates.
  • Do not leave wheelie bins in a place where they can be used to climb on.
  • Trim large shrubs/hedges that burglars could hide behind.
  • Add height to garden fences with an extra level of trellis. This is fragile and makes it difficult to climb fences without making a lot of noise.( When a particularly thorny shrub is grown up the trellis an effective barrier can be achieved.)
  • Add automatic dawn-to-dusk or passive infra-red (PIR) lighting to the rear of your property. Low energy lights are low-cost to run and pet-friendly models are available which are not triggered by animals. Make sure that lights are mounted out of easy reach at a minimum height of 2.5 m (8ft).

Make your home look occupied when you are out:

  • Don’t leave your curtains closed during the day as this suggests the house is empty.
  • Use an automatic timer switch to turn on lights or other appliances such as a radio when you are out.

 
If you are going away 

  • Ask a trusted neighbour/friend/family to check regularly on your house ( closing/opening curtains, turning lights on, collecting mail). You can reciprocate when they go away.
  • Cancel any regular deliveries.
  • Join your local Neighbourhood Watch Scheme if available.
  • Keep all valuable items out-of-sight and consider removing any valuable items (in particular cash and jewellery) to leave with other family members or a bank or keep in a safe.
  • Lock all external windows and doors. If you have an alarm make sure it is set.

               
Electronic Protection:

  • A burglar alarm is a good deterrent to most opportunistic burglars. Very few of  the dwellings that have been burgled had alarm systems fitted. All modern systems are wireless and you can purchase an adequate system for around £250-£300 from a DIY store or the internet. If you have basic DIY skills they are simple to fit. A similar system fitted could be expected to cost around £500-£600. These systems should include multi-zone PIR movement sensors, and door entry protection with external alarms. They can normally be added to with extra PIR sensor zones, windows protection, cameras and automatic mobile phone messaging when alarrm activation occurs.
  • Some security companies will offer to fit an externally monitored alarm system at a fairly low cost. These systems are very effective with 24/7 monitoring which will alert police after two internal zones are activated (which cuts out accidental activation). There is usually quite a high monthly fee for the monitoring service contract.
  • CCTV systems are usually available to link to alarm systems and can be effective. If you are considering cctv it is worth investing in good quality night-vision cameras and a hard-disk recording system from which a copy can be produced for evidential purposes. Just remember that the images are usually only as good as the lighting in the area and often night-time external cctv images are indistinct and do not provide offender identification.
  • There are much cheaper security devices available if a full alarm system is not possible. These can be obtained from a DIY store or the internet at low cost. These include stick-on window alarms which are activated by vibration, shed/garage alarm systems and a range of dummy alarm boxes and cameras which can be an effective visual deterrent.

 
Police Response:

  • Please be vigilant. Police rely on the public to report any suspicious circumstances. Please report any persons you believe are acting suspiciously on 101 together with as much information as possible such as descriptions and vehicle registrations/logos/type.
  • Police are not able to respond to all domestic alarm activations due to the high number of false activations. However, if you can, without putting yourself at risk, view any further evidence of a crime at the premises such as open/broken windows or doors, lights left on, evidence of disturbance/entry we will attend promptly. If you believe that a crime is in progress ring 999.

 
Please encourage people to sign-up to e-cops at www.cambs.police.uk or print this message and help them to be aware.