Interviews

Burglary campaign

by Mark Rowe

The Met Police launched their annual anti-burglary campaign, with Secured by Design, the national police crime prevention initiative, and The Kisiel Group, a London-based design and build company, supporting its delivery.

Secured by Design (SBD) and The Kisiel Group worked on the campaign with the Met, making available a house for filming ways that people can make their property less attractive to burglars. The property filmed was a Kisiel Group development in London which had received a SBD Gold Award for including crime prevention techniques into the landscaping and physical security. SBD is a police-owned organisation that works on behalf of the UK police to deliver crime prevention and demand reduction initiatives.

SBD has more than 200 SBD trained officers and staff in police forces around the UK. A million homes have been built to SBD standards that have seen reductions in crime.

Companies and organisations that have security-related products that can reduce crime and keep people safe can be awarded the SBD Police Preferred Specification. To be awarded this, products must be subjected to testing and auditing by an accredited third party body and certified to a published standard to demonstrate they are attack resistant and can maintain their quality.

The Met’s Be Safe campaign advises Londoners to remain vigilant and to continue to make all efforts to keep their homes and belongings safe, offering steps that people can take to protect their home:

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Leave timer switches on lights
Place motion sensor security lighting at the front and rear of properties
Fit a fixed safe for small valuable items
Fit a home security alarm
Do not display your wealth on social media or advertise when you are going to be away from your home, especially if your security settings are open and public
If selling any valuables online, do not disclose anything to reveal the address of where the valuables are stored
If selling your property, be careful what is shown in the images placed on house-selling websites, as criminals can use these images to identify valuables and also analyse floor plans
Keep an eye on those who are elderly, or vulnerable to distraction burglaries.

Supt Sean Wilson, the Met lead for burglary, said: “We do not underestimate the effect that being a victim of burglary has and want to work with residents to make sure they have taken every opportunity to keep their home and valuables safe.” He said the Met is delivering burglary masterclasses to Neighbourhood officers across London. “These officers will spend a day refreshing their skills – not just in preventing crimes from occurring, but supporting those who have become a victim. We cannot be complacent and we must make sure that we all continue to take the right steps to, where possible, avoid homes becoming a target.

“We need to get everyone involved and enable them to look after themselves and work with us to prevent crime. This year’s campaign is about creating conversations at community events with our officers and through our social media channels. At these events, we will ask residents what actions they are already taking to secure their home and remind them of the additional steps they could take – often at a low cost.

“The campaign is supported by operational activity – but we know that simple crime prevention can make it more difficult for criminals and reduce the risk of burglary-related crime.”

Visit: www.securedbydesign.com.

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