How Secure is your home??

The odds would suggest that all of us will encounter theft at some point in our lives. If you personally haven't been burgled, I'm sure you know someone who has. When living in England, I myself was a victim, despite having an alarm system. The problem was, the system only detected motion on the ground floor. What it didn't cover was a robber climbing up to a bedroom window and simply raiding the valuables in there-TV, hi-fi, and even a beloved winter coat! My window had been smashed and my personal space violated. Luckily I was away at the time, but then, one must assume this is the very reason that my home was targetted-because I hadn't taken proper precautions to keep this fact hidden.

As of March this year, 4,498 burglary cases were reported throughout Malaysia, with a mayority occurring at night time. Almost every day there is at least on new incident reported, yet only a third of all cases are solved.


Dang Wangi CID Chief Deputy Supt Wan Ahmad Wan Abas cited carelessness as the main reason for being burgled. The mayjority of burglaries are 'crimes of passion', meaning the action is driven by temptation. People leave valuables on display, leave doors or windows open when out, or (as I did) go away without covering the signs that their home is unoccupied. These thieves are usually amateur or semi-professional, taking a chance, and will give up quickly if they encounter to much difficulties. They may be homeless, drugaddicts, or simply impoverished individuals for whom the temptation was to great. They will grab whatever they see to be valuable including clothes and shoes, which in my opinion is even more distressing for a victim than the theft of non-personal items like electricals.

The other type of burglar, the professional, will be much more precise in the targeted home. they will be certain of the type of valuables inside, and will have surveyed the house to ascertain when it is and isn't empty. More often than not, there is more than one person working together and the operation will be carried out with swift efficiency,unless the home-owner has really taken the proper precautions.

So what are the proper precautions to safeguard yoursely and your family? There are many simple ways to make a huge difference to the protection of your home. The best is to mix physical measures (practical devices such as alarms, fences etc) with visual deterrants (putting the burglar off by making your home appear occupied/lacking in valuables/well protected etc).