Attempted burglary, how do you protect your home?

Police officer here. I’ve been responding to and investigating, plus arresting and interviewing burglars for decades now. Some good general advice on the whole. Plus some misconceptions. Firstly, despite all the horror stories and media nonsense, in most parts of the UK you will get an immediate response to such a call. Phone 999 and don’t take them on. If a ‘break in progress’ call comes in, we will drop what are doing (whenever possible) and get there. If of course you discover the burglary after they have long gone, then due to limited officer numbers now, you may well have to wait a while for an officer and forensics. But every area, and day, is different. The media love to quote statistics without context, but the overwhelmingly vast majority of recorded burglaries are things like shed breaks and abandoned industrial buildings, or domestics incidents etc. But dwelling burglaries are a priority (and most people will never be burgled). It’s also there are popular misconceptions and myths about defending your property and yourself. The law is actually on your side here, very very few people have been prosecuted for assaulting burglars when they are defending themselves and home, it’s usually when they have been killed when running away. This isn’t like parts of America, you can’t literally execute somebody on the spot, but there is a thing called the ‘house holder defence’. The CPS website has good info about this. Burglars can be mainly split into two categories; amateur opportunists looking for a quick easy hit to pay for drugs, or professional gangs. The pros tend to go for commercial high value targets an or car key burglaries. The former are by far the most common. And they tend to only gave her things they know for sure are there or they can see through a window like car keys or a wallet in the kitchen. so my first obvious would be to not leave anything on display at night tablet to put things in drawers, et cetera. The number of calls police get about people looking through windows and then moving on just shows that most burglars only go for the low fruit, they can access quickly. I’m repeating some things, but my top tips are; * Security lights and alarm - I would say this is probably the best option for a house. Most burglars won’t care much about CCTV, but they do not want to be caught in the act. If they think no one knows what they are doing, they will just carry on. Once those lights and sirens go on the clock will start ticking in their head and the pressure is on. Also if possible avoid having things like high hedges and fences giving them good cover when they are trying to gain entry. Might sound obvious but for some reason people often prioritise the front door, and have their door camera et cetera there, when it’s often the back door that’s most likely to be attacked, so prioritise those areas. * Slow them down - speed is a burglars friend. As well as good locks, if you have internal doors for things like porches and conservatories, lock the internal door as well. Conservatories are always going to be a weak point. You don’t see them as much as you used to, but the old sliding style doors could be often lifted off and taken out with a spade almost silently. Also, if you have a high-performance vehicle that the car key burger is likely to be after, make sure you don’t leave those keys on display anywhere such as the kitchen worksurface. If they can see them, they know they can be in and out quickly. If they think they have to hunt for them, there is a good chance they will move on to the next target. Not great, but hopefully not you. * CCTV - As above, not as much of a deterrent than people think, people just cover their faces. But still a deterrent nonetheless. If you are going away it’s worth having a camera or 2 in the house itself. Obviously at this point they have managed to get in, however a lot of people let their guard down at this point not expecting a camera and he may be able to see their face. It also helps with any forensic investigation as you can see exactly what they touched and the forensics officer can focus on those areas. Also don’t skip on cameras and get good advice on how to set them up. Most people for example, have them too high on the walls, or only have motion activated ones that capture the back of people as they walk away. There is no substitute for a proper wired 24 seven recording system, and these days they can actually cost less than some of the fancy Wi-Fi and battery ones that often fail when you need them. If they are likely to have arrived in a vehicle something that covers that area is also very helpful. * Locks - already mentioned in detail and it goes without saying that good anti-snap and anti-bump locks, with a high security rating are absolute must. However, it’s all too common for people to leave locks with the key in, with a door which has glass in it. Glass is always going to be the weakest part of a house. I would say that most bays I have been to somebody simply smashing the glass reaching through and turning the key. After this, it was either smashing windows or climbing through open windows. In decades of responding to burglaries I cannot recall a single time where somebody has successfully picked a lock. The kind of burglars that do this kind of thing are highly skilled and don’t waste their time on houses, they will be looking to access commercial premises. Also quite rare. * Dont give them the tools - Most burglars, especially the opportunist type, don’t want to have to carry around equipment, as that in itself is highly risky for burglars because if they ever get stopped they could be arrested for going equipped. Many burglars will look for tools lying around in a garden or easy to access shed. * Dogs - Those can be a great deterrent, especially if they have the run of the house. However, I am somewhat torn about this. Partly because I have seen dogs get hurt, or the door is opened and the dog gets loose and runs off. As a dog lover, I have to consider a safety. Where they are most useful is their barking, because the burglar will know that before they’ve even tried to get in the occupants or neighbours will become aware of their presence. * Trackers (and smart water) - might not prevent a theft or burglary, unless the offenders suspect you do have a tracker and don’t know where it is or have the means to disable it, and don’t wish to take the risk when they can just move onto another easier target. Very useful for police And will massively increase the chances of you get your property back. I have seen a lot of farm machinery and vehicles returned to their owners recently because they had good trackers on them. AirTags are better than nothing, especially if you disable the speaker. Due to the limitations on their accuracy (and the same applies to phones) often his stories about Police not retrieving property when they think they have a location for it. Actually the police will in a lot of cases however if the tracker is saying it’s in a flat in a block of flats, it’s often not accurate enough to save a certainty which flat it’s in and things like a warrants may be needed.