We are well into the midst of winter now, most of us have come to accept arriving home after the suns set. This isn’t great news for you as its prime time for criminally thinking opportunistic individuals who will take advantage of the blanket of darkness to cover their tracks.

Winter already brings along with it plenty of expenses, especially all the Christmas gift purchases. For some unfortunate people though winter will be made even more difficult as they fall victim to criminals during winter.

So here are some common winter crimes you might not have considered to help better protect yourself, your loved ones and your property.

Sneak in burglaries

The big one most people fall victim to are stealthy burglaries, making up the largest portion of crimes committed during winter. While we’re still out getting to our daily business, criminals will use the time between when the suns set and when we’re still out as an opportunity to commit a burglary.

These would be burglars aren’t dissuaded when we get home too. Sneak-in-burglaries are when criminals sneak into unsuspecting people’s homes via unlocked windows & doors. The darkness helps mask their entry into such premises.

There are multiple things you can do to help protect yourself from such burglaries aside from the more obvious locking of windows & doors, turning lights on in multiple rooms, and keeping curtains closed to protect thieves from looking in at what valuables you have.

CCTV

CCTV causes most thieves to take a hard pass on your property. There are affordable options for those which want one to help dissuade any potential burglars starting from only £20 a camera. Check out our shop here to find something you’ll like.

If you want a more powerful system which will do more than just catch thieves; such as any potential damage to your cars on curbs or to catch number plates, we recommend this 8MP Turret Camera by Prolux. With a built-in microphone you’ll be catching more than just video too!

Want a more proactively defensive CCTV system? Getting a camera with built-in LED lights might be something to consider. Check out this Prolux Bullet Camera offering sharp 4K video with LED lights to provide coloured video 24/7. And by lighting up the area, criminals will want to stay far out of that spotlight.

Want more than just a light? Check out this Turret Camera by Hikvision’s ColorVu range which comes with warm White LED lights, a built-in Siren, Blue & red Strobe lights, and a speaker to alert people to potential trespassers.

Alarm systems

For the worst case scenario, a powerful alarm system will make any would be burglar scurry away before they can snoop into your property. The Ajax alarms protect your property with the latest technology in alarm systems. As a wireless system, installation is hassle free and means robbers can’t cut any wires to knock your system down. Boasting multi layer encryption, knocking down devices isn’t an option for burglars either.

Ajax is smart, reliable, and lightning fast. It reacts to real dangers only, not to false alarms. If anything happens, Ajax will notify you in a heartbeat and help prevent massive troubles.

Floodlights

Fake Door-to-Door callers

As heating and boiler issues become more common in the winter, its not uncommon to see more “handymen” about stopping at houses and checking in on people. During this period is when we see a rise in bogus callers disguised as a handyman to wants to help out. Always refuse entry no matter what’s going on or whatever the weather unless you called for them yourself.

Night attacks

As with burglars, sexual predators and thieves are more out and about using the guise of night to cover their actions.

To protect yourself from this, try and stick to well lit paths were possible, walk with a friend if you can, and for any long journeys we recommend taking public transport or a taxi.

Anti-social behaviour

Long nights bring along rise in anti-social crime. The cover of night allows for mischief in the community. We recommend keeping clear from large groups of people if alone and dealing with any unruly behaviour by calling the police on 101 or 999 for emergencies. Use of CCTV & external lighting will keep most anti-social behaviour at bay as they’re strong deterrents for anyone up to causing mischief.
Cameras with built-in microphones and LEDs are perfect as they will record verbal abuse as well as let people know they’re on camera and to not try anything stupid.

The Prolux ColourView HD-TVI Camera is perfect for protecting yourself against things like this. Check it out here!

Shed/Garage break in’s

Sheds/garages and any other building separate from the main house is a prime target for opportunistic burglars after nightfall as it tends to be further away from people and viewing eyes. As they think they’re more vulnerable targets, you best believe they will try and target them.

Like sneak in burglaries, we recommend the same type of defence for this situation too.

Keep the area well lit (Floodlights would be great here), Have the area marked as being recorded by CCTV, and have CCTV pointed at any windows & doors where they’ll try to sneak in. Be sure to fix any damage to the shed due to weather as potential thieves will use any weak point to try and access your belongings.

We hope this blog post helps inform you and your friends & family about the increased dangers during lock down and what you can do to keep yourselves safe.
Feel free to contact us for any further information.
~The HDSecure Team