Home Security Information
Advice from Suffolk Police:
You are reminded to take note and record serial numbers for electrical items, such as televisions, laptop computers etc. Please also consider registering your belongings with www.immobilise.com the National Property Register. Benefits of registration include helping UK Police forces to identify the owner of lost & stolen goods thousands of times every day. Loss & theft updates you make are immediately available to the Police nation-wide. This combats the sale of stolen property, alerts the second-hand trade and allows the public to use www.checkMEND.com the UK's largest consumer electronics background reports service if an item goes missing.
Please ensure that when you leave your house or go to bed at night that your doors and windows are locked and secure. Don’t leave keys in locks or valuables on display and if your house has an alarm make sure the alarm is set every time you leave the house.
Tips on Shed/Garage/Outbuilding security
- Avoid storing valuable items like power tools and golf clubs in your shed. These items should be kept inside your home or a secure garage.
- Remember to lock your shed or garage after use.
- Secure shed doors by fitting a strong hasp and staple (also called a ‘padbar’). Secure this with coach bolts and lock the hasp over the staple with a closed shackle padlock. Secure shed door hinges with coach bolts or non-returnable screws.
- Further protect your shed with a ‘shed bar’. This and other approved security products will improve the security of your shed or garage and can be found at www.soldsecure.com or www.securedbydesign.com
- Replace any rotten door or window frames.
- Replace broken glass panes or use perspex or polycarbonate as a more secure alternative for shed and garage windows. Use a window lock along with a strong grille or wire mesh. Use curtains or netting so people cannot see inside. Screw windows shut if you do not use them.
- Fit a good quality battery operated alarm to your outbuilding.
- Up-and-over garage doors can be secured by putting padlocks through the inside runners or fitting padlocks with a hasp and staple on either side of the door.
- Fit British Standard approved locks to all your external garage doors including integral doors which access your house.
- If you have a household alarm fitted, consider extending the system to cover your garage.
- Chain items such as bicycles, ladders and lawnmowers to a strong anchor point or to each other and use a closed shackle padlock.
- Property mark items such as drills and lawnmowers. Items can be postcoded by etching, painting, stencilling, etc.
Crime reduction advice can be accessed via the Suffolk Police website
