The festive season is a time when many people let their guard down to enjoy their surroundings; and, it is also a time when criminal activity such as break-ins and theft tend to increase.
Whether homeowners migrate to places of holiday or simply spend more time at friends’ houses, there are fewer people around, resulting in less foot traffic, luring thieves to quiet and unoccupied residences.
“Homeowners and estate managers have to take the appropriate security and safety precautions over this time, in order to keep their homes and estates in which they live safe and secure,” said Roy Alves, the sales director at Axis Communications.
“The most important aspect is controlling the access individuals have to your property. By ensuring the right people have access to the appropriate areas of your estate or home, it will result in a sharp decrease in the amount of unnecessary or ‘wrong’ foot traffic, decreasing the chance of vulnerability and ultimately an act of crime.”
Tips for controlling access to your home or estate:
- Inspect your CCTV cameras before the downtime starts, ensuring these are functioning optimally without any blind spots. If you live on an estate, on-site security guards should monitor the premises regularly.
- For estate homeowners, the key to effective security lies in being able to detect a potential intruder before they gain access. This can be done through an analytics application which allows for proactive surveillance, assisting security staff at estates to detect and deter crime proactively. The application can for example, detect trespassers or loiters and automatically notify a guard or play a message over a loudspeaker.
- Rather than static cameras, look into network cameras that are connected to an IT network at your home or estate. These are digital and linked to the IP infrastructure which uses remote access to video meaning you can connect to the internet or a 3G, from any desired location or device, including tablets or smartphones, and access your live network. The benefit of this system is that cameras can be controlled remotely and can double as two way communication devices, when they are equipped with audio features. This smart camera system allows for an incredibly robust crime prevention strategy.
Further, ER24 also urged the public not to let their guard down while they go on vacation.
ER24 provided these pre-journey safety checks
House
- Lock all doors and windows; make sure your home is secure
- Install a timer on certain lights and if possible radios. This will make the house seem more lived in.
- Do not make you planned absence known. Be careful with whom you discuss your holiday plans.
- If you leave your animals at home and not at a kennel, make sure someone is taking care of them.
- Even if you don’t have animals to feed, get a friend to look after your home. To open and close curtains, empty your mailbox and make the place look lived in.
- Cancel newspaper subscriptions or make sure someone collects them; a pile of newspapers in the driveway is a sure giveaway that no one is home.
- When departing, do not pack your vehicle in clear view of the street.
Vehicle
- Tire Pressure / Tread
- Lights and Brakes are in good order
- Check windscreen for cracks and make sure windscreen wipers are effective
- Check fluid levels (oil, water and windscreen cleaner)
Share your safety tips in the comments section below
