Interviews

Festive rules

by Mark Rowe

The festive season is nearly upon us! A time of peace and good will, but also the time for burglaries and break-ins. Houses are frequently empty for longer, gifts are typically left on display and there are fewer neighbours around to keep an eye on your property. While looking after the security of your home might not be top of your Christmas list, it’s important to take some simple steps without being a security scrooge. Toby Metcalf from Zycomm, the CCTV and radio communications company, offers five rules for safety and security this Christmas.

1. Don’t leave yourself on display

It’s common Christmas knowledge: before, after and during the festive break your home is likely to be full of gifts. Wrapped presents, grouped together and left under the tree offer easy pickings to burglars, so make sure you keep gifts out of sight. Don’t gives potential thieves any window shopping time; If you must keep gifts under the tree, keep the tree away from the window or keep the curtains closed when you’re away from home. Likewise, if you have bought any expensive electrical gifts, such as TV’s, tablets or smartphones, then avoid leaving empty boxes or branded bags on display outside near your bins.

2. Christmas lockdown

One of the most effective ways to discourage potential burglars is to ensure your house is on lockdown this Christmas. If thieves can’t gain access quickly through doors and windows, they won’t stick around very long. Ensure you have strong, double locks on your doors and windows and test them too. If you have fairy lights outside, try to make sure they’re connected to an exterior power source, rather than feeding wires through a slightly open window.

3. Light up the dark night

It’s an old and obvious tactic but leaving a light on is still an effective way to discourage would-be thieves. Darker evenings gives burglars more time to target your home but leaving lights on makes it harder for them to identify which houses are actually empty. If you’re going away for a longer period, set at timer so lights go on and off in different rooms and at random intervals.

4. Silent night?

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring except; a scared burglar running away after setting off your alarm! Alarm systems, especially those that alert the security services, are a highly effective way of stopping thieves. And just like you would do with your smoke alarms, make sure you test them regularly.

5. Closed circuit Christmas

For highly effective security and peace of mind, that’s not just for Christmas, why not consider installing a CCTV system? There’s now a market packed with options and you can install an effective CCTV system yourself with relative ease. Take some time to consider whether you want indoor or outdoor cameras and make sure you are positioning them in good spots like potential entrance or exit points. Lastly, take out a maintenance package to ensure your CCTV system is running as efficiently as possible. CCTV also acts as a great deterrent and will hopefully make burglars think twice.

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