Insecure burglaries
Insecure or Sneak-In burglary accounts for approximately 1 in 4 burglaries across West Yorkshire. This method of entering someone’s home only occurs if a door or window has been left open or unlocked. It only takes a minute to prevent it and costs nothing other than your to time to stop it from happening.
Insecure burglary can happen when you are out or when you are at home, so it is vital that you keep doors and windows locked at all times. It’s extremely important to get into the habit of locking doors and windows either when you are leaving or arriving home – make sure that everyone else who lives in your home does the same thing.
Do you leave your doors/windows unlocked in any of the following situations?
- Just got home from work
- Doing a bit of gardening
- Nipping round to the neighbours for a chat
- Going to the local shop – only going to be 5 minutes
- Your friends are due to call round, so you leave the door open so they can let themselves in
Sound familiar? If yes, please get into the habit of locking your doors and windows at all times – it literally only takes a minute of your time and could prevent you from becoming a victim of burglary. Some of your possessions will hold sentimental value or could be irreplaceable and it’s vital that offenders are not provided with an open door invite to potentially steal them.
If you do have to leave your doors unlocked, think about an alarm sensor on the door, a bit like on a shop door when someone enters. At least this will give you some warning.
Doorbell cameras are very good at restricting unwanted visitors to your front door. Make sure any you buy are from reputable companies and not a cheap imitation off sites like Wowcher and Groupon, these sites will provide a camera but will have security flaws on them that may expose details of your wi-fi passwords.
Please remember that it only takes a minute to make sure that doors and windows are locked, not left open and that the keys are removed from the locks and kept in a safe place.
Page last reviewed April 2023
