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Domestic burglary

Domestic Burglary

The CSP has committed to maintaining a comprehensive Crime Prevention Team so we can effectively deliver a high quality service to our Crime and Disorder partners, the victims of crime and the wider public of Derby. The Crime Prevention Team offers free advice and guidance to home security and environmental designing out crime advice. Often the team has projects running that entitle residents to a free home security improvement service where deemed vulnerable. For more information on this service please call the team on 01332 / 222077.

Though crime Prevention is often deemed common sense, mistakes are still made. Can you see what is wrong with the examples on the right? Are you guilty of similar mistakes?

Please complete the self assessment checklist to identify vulnerable spots of your property and then follow the Crime Prevention Team’s top tips to reduce these vulnerabilities.

 

Distraction Burglary

Distraction burglary is a type of burglary whereby the ‘method of entry’ is by trick rather than the typical forced or sneak entry... The most common guise adopted is that of an official person such as a policeman or council worker, but they can also pose as door to door salespeople.

Another method of ‘tricking’ older and vulnerable people is fraud. The offenders are often the same but they purport to be trades people offering repair services and maintenance to homes and gardens. They will often carry out inferior work or sometimes no work at all, and charge exorbitant fees. They place extreme pressure on vulnerable people to obtain monies and sometimes accompany older people to banks and building societies to withdraw cash.

If you are concerned of becoming a victim of this crime, of if you know of someone who may be vulnerable to this type of offence please follow these tips:

  • don't keep large amounts of cash in the house
  • don't open the door to strangers
  • Have a peephole fitted in your door so that you can see who is outside and always use a chain to answer the door to strangers
  • don't engage in personal conversation with telephone sales people
  • never give out personal information such as credit card information to strangers who come to your door or who phone you
  • make sure you have good exterior lighting on your home
  • If you feel you do not have the confidence to deal with callers at the door consider setting up a Nominated Neighbor Scheme. This allows you to show a card to callers instructing that they must verify their identity with a neighbor
  • Consider establishing a Password Scheme. By registering a password with companies or setting one for expected callers with appointments, allows for the genuine verification of that caller. All passwords will be kept confidential.

For further information and advice around this crime and to see what support may be available to you please email Sarah Newton, Crime Prevention Team Supervisor on sarah.newton@derby.gov.uk.

There are also plenty of other organisations that can offer other advice and help if you worried about crime such as Help the Aged or Age Concern.