Agreed, i have a ghost fitted and its deadlocked up, but worst nightmare is someone stood at the end of my bed demanding the key. Once theyve got it and left i can lock them back out again and grab the bat and it cant be taken, but still.
In the late part of my Police career I used to go to prisons and interview convicted criminals about such crimes. Although I despised them I found them to be chatty once convicted, often usefully so!
I can tell you with no doubt, every single one of them told me it's not worth the massive extra risk, they'd just move on to the next T6 instead.
The sentence for stealing your van would most likely not involve a long prison sentence.
The sentence for breaking in to your house at night to terrify you and your family to get the keys and code to the ghost would very likely be approaching double figures.
It is reassuring but it doesn't change my mind about where I keep my keys. It may well be rare (and more commonly associated with serious organised crime than local scumbag scroats) but it can and does happen - perhaps not the scenario that @Ali-G described as in coming back to get the Ghost code but breaking into a property and extracting the keys or their location from the owner. I only wrote the comment because it happened to someone close to me, who then recounted their experience, which was horrific. The risk is likely very very small of it happening; I'd rather it didn't happen at all though and they found the key easily and just disappeared with the van.
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A few things I learnt regarding security...it’s not always the the expensive things that can deter idiots...
Front drive....Gravel makes lots of noise...keep the area open ( no hedges) ...lighting set high and low...and high visibility steering wheel lock ...then go for Ghost type systems
Rear garden.....On top of my fence panels ( remember to put flat face on outside) I've made cheap triangle capping that would break if climbed on.
lots of decorative stone and and security lighting....Security features can be decorative as well as functional
Front drive....Gravel makes lots of noise...keep the area open ( no hedges) ...lighting set high and low...and high visibility steering wheel lock ...then go for Ghost type systems
Rear garden.....On top of my fence panels ( remember to put flat face on outside) I've made cheap triangle capping that would break if climbed on.
lots of decorative stone and and security lighting....Security features can be decorative as well as functional
Having been unfortunate enough to be a victim of having my home burgled some years back, the police said security lighting was a waste of time as it just helps the thieves see where they're going....
There best advice was make it as difficult as possible to break in whereby they have to make an awful lot of noise to gain entry... so additional dead bolt locks on doors and internal security system with loudest audible siren thats available... that way even if they get in, they won't stick around long... but that was to prevent them breaking into my home again.
In the case of the T6 on the drive.. well its advertising it... and is going to draw unwanted attention... Ghost will help stop them driving it away.. but a determined scumbag will find a way to break into it if he wants to nick what's inside... even if its a smash and grab... just try and keep stuff out of view if possible...
There best advice was make it as difficult as possible to break in whereby they have to make an awful lot of noise to gain entry... so additional dead bolt locks on doors and internal security system with loudest audible siren thats available... that way even if they get in, they won't stick around long... but that was to prevent them breaking into my home again.
In the case of the T6 on the drive.. well its advertising it... and is going to draw unwanted attention... Ghost will help stop them driving it away.. but a determined scumbag will find a way to break into it if he wants to nick what's inside... even if its a smash and grab... just try and keep stuff out of view if possible...
On the making it difficult front, our key safes are bolted through the wall so cannot be levered off and visible through the glass in the back door and then we have an internal discrete shutter that separates the kitchen from the rest of the house.
I sleep soundly at night.
I sleep soundly at night.
An elderly lady lived next us, she was very vulnerable and I couldn't be there to keep an eye on her 24/7, but I put an old muddy pair of size 12 rigger boots outside her back door and an old "postmans leg" dogs bone nearby. Who wants to confront the man who wears muddy size 12 rigger boots all day?
You're absolutely right, small innocuous things can make a big difference. The fence topping is another great idea.
My keys spend the night downstairs with 3 dogs for company, they go ballistic when a foot crunches the gravel, the red mist descends and it's wall to wall flashing teeth at the doors and windows and a racket that would wake the dead!!! (I never tell them off for guarding us!)
My other neighbour recently disturbed two men breaking into his house, I can't say any more as I'm a witness to events and will be back in the witness box in the new year. He has two Porsche 911's, nuff said!
While on the subject, I will NEVER buy second hand parts for any vehicle, many stolen vehicles are simply broken for parts which are sold on fleabay and other websites. It's the easy way to turn a stolen vehicle into a lot of money.
I'd have difficulty saying 'my kids left the bat by the door so I just picked it up for protection' cos I don't have any! but hey ho. The scrotes need to understand the lesson.
Having had a bank account opened in my name this week Im ready to deliver a message
Sorry it happened but at least you didn't lose the van so count the good side of this and re-assess your key strategy.
A re-warning for all those with active remote entry on any vehicle... keys well away from doors and windows and preferably stored in a little Faraday cage. Those reciever/re-broadcast boxes are available from Russia online.
Having had a bank account opened in my name this week Im ready to deliver a message
Sorry it happened but at least you didn't lose the van so count the good side of this and re-assess your key strategy.
A re-warning for all those with active remote entry on any vehicle... keys well away from doors and windows and preferably stored in a little Faraday cage. Those reciever/re-broadcast boxes are available from Russia online.
First thing everyone should do is upgrade euro cylinder door locks to ones that cannot be overcome in seconds (and not put keys within reach of the post box ) - 3 star locks or 1 star locks and 2 star handles - lookup lock snapping it's too easy!!!
If your pride and joy is irreplaceable then a ghost immobilizer or similar is a no brainer, it'll quickly stop anyone who took a set of keys in their tracks.
It is widely thought that burglars DO NOT in general want any form of confrontation, it seems a far rarer occurrence to be woken by one treating violence - one reason being as mentioned above, aggravated burglaries are given a higher priority by police and you would assume these crooks know this - so if you have a ghost imob fitted perhaps leave the keys downstairs as they are next to useless ;-)
On top of this CCTV (at least one or two cams at a lower level) and/or a doorbell is good to have to keep an eye outside if you hear anything/for recording evidence and as a deterrent for some. Once area these systems have fell short on is reliable alerts - motion detection has been terribly unreliable but newer tech now filters out false alarms from changing weather/cats etc and crosses the boundary into being more of an alarm system giving perimeter protection at the same time.
We have cameras now that can do all of this:
Then we have wireless alarms that are super easy to setup and reliable - you can part set your doors and windows when asleep/ fully arm the house when away and/or monitor an outdoor area in an even more reliable manner than in camera detection:
The shock sensor is even good to use in the sliding door so you can dock your van to your house alarm if you want to protect against a van break in without keys!
Drop me a PM if you want a decent system speccing up.
Ad
) - 3 star locks or 1 star locks and 2 star handles - lookup lock snapping it's too easy!!! If your pride and joy is irreplaceable then a ghost immobilizer or similar is a no brainer, it'll quickly stop anyone who took a set of keys in their tracks.
It is widely thought that burglars DO NOT in general want any form of confrontation, it seems a far rarer occurrence to be woken by one treating violence - one reason being as mentioned above, aggravated burglaries are given a higher priority by police and you would assume these crooks know this - so if you have a ghost imob fitted perhaps leave the keys downstairs as they are next to useless ;-)
On top of this CCTV (at least one or two cams at a lower level) and/or a doorbell is good to have to keep an eye outside if you hear anything/for recording evidence and as a deterrent for some. Once area these systems have fell short on is reliable alerts - motion detection has been terribly unreliable but newer tech now filters out false alarms from changing weather/cats etc and crosses the boundary into being more of an alarm system giving perimeter protection at the same time.
We have cameras now that can do all of this:
Then we have wireless alarms that are super easy to setup and reliable - you can part set your doors and windows when asleep/ fully arm the house when away and/or monitor an outdoor area in an even more reliable manner than in camera detection:
The shock sensor is even good to use in the sliding door so you can dock your van to your house alarm if you want to protect against a van break in without keys!
Drop me a PM if you want a decent system speccing up.
Ad
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Regardless of how good the lock is, the door design can be a weak point.
We were burgled a few years ago. They got in by forcing the bottom panel in the back uPVC door. They are only held in by the internal glazing beads, so when removed, provide a big hole to climb in and out of. I made a proper mess of the door before the insurance man came round so that it could be replaced. This time I specified one with a mullion, therefore two narrow bottom panels. I never told my wife this, but about a month later I noticed some pry marks on the new door. Almost as if they'd been back, started to pop the panel out, but realised it was different this time round. A spot of white paint appeared on the drive gate pillar too, which I'm lead to believe is a code for other scroats.
We were burgled a few years ago. They got in by forcing the bottom panel in the back uPVC door. They are only held in by the internal glazing beads, so when removed, provide a big hole to climb in and out of. I made a proper mess of the door before the insurance man came round so that it could be replaced. This time I specified one with a mullion, therefore two narrow bottom panels. I never told my wife this, but about a month later I noticed some pry marks on the new door. Almost as if they'd been back, started to pop the panel out, but realised it was different this time round. A spot of white paint appeared on the drive gate pillar too, which I'm lead to believe is a code for other scroats.
Good to hear that the scumbags understand the difference between burglary and aggravated burglary.
The next thing is to make your security obvious. Signs help, (in many places they put signs up automatically), cameras do help but angles and lights need to be understood.
You could always leave a list on the window of all the cars with remote keyless entry on the street!
Keep the cricket bat handy and get the neighbours to put cams up and post all over neighbour websites.
The next thing is to make your security obvious. Signs help, (in many places they put signs up automatically), cameras do help but angles and lights need to be understood.
You could always leave a list on the window of all the cars with remote keyless entry on the street!
Keep the cricket bat handy and get the neighbours to put cams up and post all over neighbour websites.
I agree on the door design, I’ve had to kick my own door open after loosing my keys and it’s ridiculously easy but noisy, none of my neighbours checked to see what was happening!
Another issue these days is the wide range of battery power tools, there isn’t much that will stop a forced entry. Having worked in South Africa and Brazil I’ve seen how they deal with property crime with gated communities, razor wire and armed response guards. Hopefully we won’t go down that route.
Another issue these days is the wide range of battery power tools, there isn’t much that will stop a forced entry. Having worked in South Africa and Brazil I’ve seen how they deal with property crime with gated communities, razor wire and armed response guards. Hopefully we won’t go down that route.
Nothing will stop any would be burglar...unless you employ a security guard, even banks get broken in to...you can have the best Rock door ( they even do patio doors ) but a brick/ glass cutters will get them in .....it’s time that’s there enemy . You have to build layers of security that work for you based on the risk
as example..... Burglars love patio doors....but if can have a lockable door between the house and the conservatory it slows them down
and as said before simple things can deter.....
as example..... Burglars love patio doors....but if can have a lockable door between the house and the conservatory it slows them down
and as said before simple things can deter.....
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