Last night a new resident who had just moved into our "secure" community was burgled and is awake up call yet again. The facts are quite simple and this is the same house that was broken into before. The previous owners have sold and now the new owners are experiencing what the old owners had. The upside is these crimes are not serious and is petty for now.
No Electric Fence
The intruder jumped over the front wall apparently and removed a window panel to gain access to the residence. What I find concerning is the people were at home and never heard anything. Just because you live in a "secure" protected zone does not mean you let down your guard and still need to have your senses fine tuned. The thief left by opening both garage doors using a remote or an internal button which again would have made a noise.
Too Many Security Weaknesses
This reminds me of when I was living on the golf course many years ago before moving to the property I know own. The golf course property was a rental so I had no real controls over what security measures we had and basically it was just me. We had an old electric fence which was something which was cut on a weekly basis. This was repaired the following morning having no real down time and was ready and working for the next evening shenanigans. This was always cut on a Thursday hoping nothing would be repaired in time for the weekend especially Friday and Saturday nights.
Too Easy
We were never burgled once in 5 years even though our neighbors had 12 burglaries between them including a few shooting incidents. When we finally moved out that same house that was crime free for 5 years was cleaned out within the first week. The only difference is the people living there were not vigilant and aware of the dangers that were all around them. I am no criminal, but when protecting your property you have to think like one and look for any weak spots that could be made more secure.
Last night I heard a house alarm being triggered at around 2am and I did take a quick look walking down the street, but it was another house. No one else was around at the time and it feels weird that people are so blasé about security.
The house that was broken into has no electric fence and from what I am gathering no house alarm and no private armed response security. This tells me the house is not insured for contents as those are the 3 requirements insurance companies expect as the basics.
What was stolen was of no significant value being 3 pairs of running shoes and a travel bag. The window will be replaced which I have a sneaky feeling was the same window that had been used to gain access to the property in the past. What the obvious thing to do would be to introduce yourself and speak with your neighbors and find out about the area with regard to security.
The good thing is the crime has been committed and no real damage has been done so they are better prepared for the next time. I know what I would do and I would sleep in that same room roughing it on the floor so I was ready and prepared for the next event. This is a perfect scenario and guaranteed they will miss this opportunity. There will be a next time due to how vulnerable this property is and surely the houses in that particular strip of the street need to be more vigilant and aware.