Don't leave yourself open...
It's been revealed that November is consistently the worst month of the year for burglaries.
PhoneWatch has issued a warning to the public to be wary in the run up to Christmas as analysis by the company has shown that November burglary rates are 46% higher than the rate for the rest of the year.
Gardaí have been working hard and overall the numbers of burglaries have been decreasing in recent years, but homeowners are urged to be wary during the dark evenings of burglary and opportunistic crime.
PhoneWatch have given the following advice to homeowners to protect their property.
- Lock doors and windows, whether you are in the house or not. Over a quarter of all burglars gain access through the front door.
- Alarm your home not just when you’re leaving but at night and especially before going to bed. You are three times more likely to be the victim of a burglary if you don’t have a monitored burglar alarm.
- Light up: The most common time for a burglary is between 5pm and 11pm. During this time you should make sure your home is well lit. Use timed switches if you are not going to be at home.
- Don’t Advertise: Keep valuable possessions away from the windows and keep curtains and blinds closed to make sure a burglar isn’t drawn to your home.
PhoneWatch also released statistics on the most common entry points for burglars. These show that the front of homes are more vulnerable to penetration than in previous years, a trend that shown a continual increase in recent years:
- Front Door: 25% (up from 15% in 2010)
- Front Window: 11%
- Back Doors & Windows: 37%
- Side Doors & Windows 8.4%
- Skylights: 2.6%
