My local area has been plagued by an ongoing spree of "youths" walking the streets at night trying car doors. They go onto people's driveways (not just cars parked on the street) and have also been filmed trying front doors and entering porches and hallways.
Every couple of weeks there's a new series of posts on local FB groups showing footage from door bell cams and the like.
The police have been informed and are well aware of what's happening, we report it when it happens to us and have had an officer round. But they admit there's basically nothing they can do.
For our part, we've got a camera and gates (admittedly not lockable, but I'm going to put a chain on it, at least to provide some sort of obstacle) and we report to the police whenever it happens.
There's frequent talk on FB groups about forming watch groups to patrol the streets, with various degrees of violent undertones! I've heard one suggestion that a group of "blokes who can handle themselves" should just go out late on when the streets should be empty and if they see anybody, ****t them because they shouldn't be out at that time 😒
Anyone elses local area plagued by similar? (It's literally all over the Fylde coast where I live, night after night another area is targeted.)
Any success stories in tackling it?
Has it actually been a thing forever, but we only know about it nowbecause of ring doorbells!?
Yep, been happening for the last few years round here. There's groups of people that go round area by area, trying car doors, smashing car windows, popping in open house windows etc - low level stuff but recurs every few months or so. It's almost like there's a rota - if you hear of one particular area being done, then you know yours is coming up.
Our popo are aware but say there's nothing that can be done. I'd have thought with some more resource they could do 'trap cars' in the affected areas etc.
We were just advised to make sure there's no easy targets left lying around.
its the same here.
Mostly tackled by locking car doors and houses.
In some housing estates where its rife people lock their doors behind them every time they go inside even if they are sitting watching telly.
I reckon it goes on a lot, completely unnoticed. Forgot to lock our car one night came back to it and someone had stolen the parking change. Only about a fiver, so not much on its own but if you do a whole carpark or neighbourhood then you'll probably do ok in a short time. A lot of people probably wouldn't even notice.
In some housing estates where its rife people lock their doors behind them every time they go inside even if they are sitting watching telly.
Its not a thing where I am, I have cameras and the only thing they capture is the neighbours cat, but do some people not lock their house doors at all times? My doors are always locked whether I am at home or away.
Surely you're asking for it if you leave your house door in a state that it can be opened by anyone at anytime?
Edit : is this a problem mainly in areas that have upvc front doors with multipoint locking that has to be explicitly locked with a key, rather than old fashioned front doors with a latch type lock that is always locked when closed without the owner having to do anything?
I'm convinced youths wandering around trying car doors accounts for 99.9% of the reports you hear of car keys being cloned through front doors by sophisticated criminal gangs.
people lock their doors behind them every time they go inside even if they are sitting watching telly.
Yep, we do that now!
It’s almost like there’s a rota – if you hear of one particular area being done, then you know yours is coming up.
And that's what it's like here.
It's just so frustrating that the only solution is lock your doors, rather than actually preventing it from happening in the first place.
A bait car seems like an obvious way of catching them, but in reality, they'd probably be back at it 2 nights later.
The pcso that visited our house said they know that after midnight, there's no police patrolling the streets and they're free to do as they like. That said, it was 23:55 last night when someone came on our drive. That's early enough for them to be confronted by a dog walker or someone coming home from the pub, they obviously don't care.
Yes, increased around here locally but usually as above it's unlocked cars, or if they do get broken into it's cos someone's left a laptop on a seat or something like that.
However there have been a few occasions where people try doors and there are people at home. That's much scarier.
I'd had a few minor things taken when I'd managed to left the car unlocked. Actually quite easy to tell with some cars, lots fold mirrors when locked now but things like VWs have the red blinking LED in the door - can tell just by walking past on the pavement.
Haven't had any alert on my camera (which is pretty good at detecting people) but's pretty obvious it's there, and I've got a little solar motion LED that comes on just inside the driveway too.
Do get ring type footage on local groups a lot though, I think lots of petty criminals assume they only record when you press the bell.
In some housing estates where its rife people lock their doors behind them every time they go inside even if they are sitting watching telly.
Eh?
Surely everyone south of Inverness locks their front door every time they go through it...
Hell our back garden has a 6ft brick wall around it but i wouldn't dream of leaving the kitchen door unlocked unless one of us was cooking or in the actual garden.
#TimperleySchemie
Yes, increased around here locally but usually as above it’s unlocked cars, or if they do get broken into it’s cos someone’s left a laptop on a seat or something like that.
In fairness to the scrotes, when we had two cars one of them was left permanently unlocked because the driver's side lock was broken. Only realised it had been done over when I saw a cassette tape left on the passenger seat. Perhaps it was hipsters looking for some C90's?
Our other car got done a few weeks later - parked round the back of the house, not accessible from the front. Only realised when I could see the interior light of the car on from the house. I'd obviously thought I'd locked it but clearly hadn't. They'd found our ancient TomTom sat nav and left it because it was so old. The only thing they took was the iphone charging cable - actually hugely inconvenient!
Do get ring type footage on local groups a lot though, I think lots of petty criminals assume they only record when you press the bell
I think more likely is they just don't GAS. Hood up, mask on, can't be identified no matter how good the camera is.
Yes, common around here in all the time I've lived here. We've had doors kicked, windows broken, cars broken into, cars vandalised, property vandalised, the lot. But it is South Manchester.
Growing up in Belfast with 'certain individuals' living in estates, low level crime just never happened, in my estate at least. There was a lot to be said for local vig...policing.
But they admit there’s basically nothing they can do.
I'd want to explore that a bit further. Are they saying they don't believe they are committing a crime by trying doors or they don't have the resource to do anything?
Eh?
Surely everyone south of Inverness locks their front door every time they go through it…
Hell our back garden has a 6ft brick wall around it but i wouldn’t dream of leaving the kitchen door unlocked unless one of us was cooking or in the actual garden.
I live in Breckland area of Norfolk (the bit that isn't wholly flat!) and i think i am right in saying it is lowest car crime area in UK.. I reckon i could walk into most of my neighbours houses through unlocked doors, in-laws only lock door if they're going out for more an hour.
Most crime here involves stealing farm machinery or red diesel, although disturbing trend of a few stabbings now in central Norwich (....awaits your best Partridge comments..)
but do some people not lock their house doors at all times
This depends very much where you live.
My previous house, just outside West Linton, south of Edinburgh, didn't even have a door key. Six of us sharing and no one knew where it was so we never locked it.
Previous to that I'd lived in Reading, one break in and one attempted but failed break in with me in the house both times, the second one only failed because I chased him off!
Yep, we get this. They check all the car doors and the new thing is stealing plants from people's doorsteps (bay/olive trees etc) 🤷♂️
In our case it seems to happen in waves across the town, then nothing for months. Probably the same group of lowlifes travelling from town to town across the region.
Are they saying they don’t believe they are committing a crime by trying doors or they don’t have the resource to do anything?
Lack of resources. Pcso's patrol during the day, but not after midnight and the other police at that time are busy responding to 999 calls. Plus what can they actually do, all the ring footage in the world doesn't really amount to much if you can't put a name to the individual.
Years ago we left our car unlocked - someone went in, pulled everything out and left it all, even the CDs which were a commonly stolen item back then. So much for our taste in music.
Bait cars and more police patrols? You're having a laugh these days, they're lucky if they can afford to keep a stock of biros in the stationary cupboard. Unless things get violent there's no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
We had a slight spate of this over the summer; minor things like chucking stones and eggs at windows, throwing rubbish through open windows etc - clearly just bored teenagers.
They got caught on someones camera - no hoods up, no masks so plainly visible and identifiable. Their faces were plastered all over our local Facebook. Lots of hand wringing saying it's not on to name and shame the kids and shouldn't be sharing their picture on Facebook etc.
All the bother seems to have stopped now though. Presumably the kids have been suitably scolded by their parents / the school / the police.
I’ve heard one suggestion that a group of “blokes who can handle themselves” should just go out late on when the streets should be empty and if they see anybody, ****t them because they shouldn’t be out at that time
I'm surprised this doesn't happen a lot to be honest. Some people in really problematic areas must be incredibly sick of dealing with rowdy scrotes every night.
molgrips
Years ago we left our car unlocked – someone went in, pulled everything out and left it all, even the CDs which were a commonly stolen item back then. So much for our taste in music.
'Back in the day' I used to have a MK1 Polo, which was notoriously easy to break into - you just had to look at it the wrong way and the locks would spring open.
When I used to live in N London, in cold weather the local scrotes would break in, smoke their joints, extinguish them in the ashtray, and lock it all back up again.
The first time the radio got nicked my neighbour went to the local dealer a couple of doors down and asked for it back - got it back for a fiver after about ten minutes. Sadly the second time they weren't able to get it - I was most annoyed about the d'n'b mixtape a mate had done for me that was in the cassette player. That and the pair of Spy sunnies in the glovebox which went too.
Trouble is, often the Police know who the scrotes are, but they know how many times they have tried to take similar to Court via CPS and got nowhere, was a time you could raise with parents, but often parents just don't care.
When my car was broken into when i lived near Guildford, they couldn't get steering lock off, so they had driven in an arc into a wall. Called Surrey Police, and they wouldn't send anyone out, but i could pay them £400 to have car uplifted and taken to them to be fingerprinted!
Cousin once had his Vauxhall Nova stolen (dates this story...) he came out to find it missing from parking spot, except for a Whitney Houston CD which was stood on end on the kerb..
but do some people not lock their house doors at all times
no, and if I lived somewhere i felt I needed to lock myself in my house, i'd be looking to move sharpish.
Same round here too (Yorkshire too). Constant stream of doorbell cam screengraps (terribly) posted t to the facebook groups.
More to the point, can I join in with the people who are surprised that there are people who DONT leave their doors locked all the time?
And only when their is a crime spree do they consider locking them when they are sat wathcing TV at the other side of the house?
I mean, why wouldnt you!?
Lack of resources. Pcso’s patrol during the day, but not after midnight and the other police at that time are busy responding to 999 calls. Plus what can they actually do, all the ring footage in the world doesn’t really amount to much if you can’t put a name to the individual.
There's plenty they can do but as always it's about priorities. As soon as the local councillors car gets done they will have a visible presence show of force which then melts away
Lack of resources. Pcso’s patrol during the day, but not after midnight and the other police at that time are busy responding to 999 calls.
Then instead of asking here - you want to get onto your PCC and ask what he's doing to resource them to deal with crime that makes real people (his voters) feel uneasy at night.
Plus what can they actually do, all the ring footage in the world doesn’t really amount to much if you can’t put a name to the individual.
If there are persistent trouble makers, lots of ring footage of them and the local cops can't identify them something doesn't add up.
Trouble is, often the Police know who the scrotes are, but they know how many times they have tried to take similar to Court via CPS and got nowhere, was a time you could raise with parents, but often parents just don’t care.
I think you read too much Daily Mail / Express!
no, and if I lived somewhere i felt I needed to lock myself in my house, i’d be looking to move sharpish.
Same. I often nip up Tescos Express and leave the front door unlocked. Never locked when I'm in the house except when I go to bed. I couldn't live with the OP's kind of shite going on. Little ****ers need dealing with, so if it take vigilante groups, that's what it takes.
no, and if I lived somewhere i felt I needed to lock myself in my house, i’d be looking to move sharpish.
This.
Only ever had to live in that kind of fear at one rental we had in the city. Cheap for a reason...... Had a bike stolen from under lock and key and my car broken into. We lived there less than 8 months
but do some people not lock their house doors at all times
I tend to lock the front door when I'm in. It's a thumbturn cylinder so not a big effort. There's a good chance I'll be in the back garden if it's summer or on the toilet or upstairs with music on. Why risk it just because it feels like a safe area? And I live in a street with a lot of bunglows and curtain twitching so nothing gets missed around here. The only reason I wouldn't lock it is if I knew a family member was due so they could let themselves in.
OTOH my wife doesn't lock her car. It's old and battered and would cost more to replace a smashed window than any of the random rubbish left inside it.
I mean, why wouldnt you!?
Because it's not necessary
It's a pain when you are in and out regularly
It's nice not to feel like you live in a cage.
Big ‘Innes’ helped with a similar issue in Craigland so could be worth asking.
Just make sure to hide any Midori.
Surely everyone south of Inverness locks their front door every time they go through it…
Hell our back garden has a 6ft brick wall around it but i wouldn’t dream of leaving the kitchen door unlocked unless one of us was cooking or in the actual garden.
I think that most of the areas South of Inverness are not the petty crime blighted wasteland that you imagine. Sure there are pockets of it as described in this thread, but I'd say that the majority of the UK is pretty safe to leave a door unlocked.
It must be emotionally tiring, and a real cause of constant, low level stress always worrying about doors and windows being bolted shut, even when you are in the house and within your fortified back garden.
Obviously it is the solution if homes are regularly being entered by thieves, but it can't feel very homely or comfortable always being worried about intruders.
It is
Must be nice to live somewhere like the western isles where folks don't even lock their doors when they go on holiday! "How would the postie get in to put the letters on the kitchen table?"
I’m convinced youths wandering around trying car doors accounts for 99.9% of the reports you hear of car keys being cloned through front doors by sophisticated criminal gangs.
I'm so poor my car has a key you put in the ignition and turn - but for you guys with keyless starts, if you park up at your house and don't press lock, can anybody get in the car and press the Start button?
You couldn't with my Focus - the key had to be inside the car.
@ayjaydoubleyou It doesn't work like that, it knows if the keys are in the car or not. I'm forever unlocking the car from within the house by sitting on the keys if that was the case the car would be long gone.
I’ve heard one suggestion that a group of “blokes who can handle themselves” should just go out late on when the streets should be empty and if they see anybody, ****t them because they shouldn’t be out at that time
I'd steer well clear of both FB, and joining FB organised Mobs.
I'm sure participating in a group beating of a teenager because "Steve's doorbell Cam spotted a kid with the same jacket" will stand up in court.
The best defence is (relative) poverty
All of our neighbours have nicer cars and tidier front gardens than us, I'm banking on the scrotes trying to take next doors Porsche or the other sides 'Warrior' before they turn their attention to our shitty old Citroen...
My missus has forgotten to lock the car several times now, nobody touched it.
The Yoofs all overlook that our house is the biggest on the road, and the only one with a double garage. But plonk a shiny German car on a frequently jet-washed, weed free drive and they'll be all over your house like flies on shit...
if you are looking for a set of car keys at my in-laws, first place to look is in the ignition. 9/10 they will be there.
So the scrotes don't care, their parents don't care, the cops don't care or cant afford to care, social services don't care or cant afford to care.
You care and so do some others.
Batman is probably busy, so you do need to sort it yourselves. Perhaps then the coppers will care as they will end up protecting the scrotes and telling the vigilante groups to behave.
I had some dirty ***g lowlife junky t break into my place while I was in bed to steal a bike he saw in my kitchen. Managed to jenny open a sash window without waking me. I woke when he was just exiting the front door and I heard the clicking of the hub unfortunatley he rode faster than I run wearing just a bath towel.
My house is in an electorincally gated block so he must have jumped over a 8 ft wall surrounded by CCTV to do it. The CCTV picked them up wandering around the car park, trying doors and windows etc... and then seeing my bikes in the kitchen they went off got a suitable lump of metal from somewhere and popped in to help themselves. Thankfully they took the hard tail and not the new Yeti next to it.
This is in Lincoln city centre so not exactly Newham or Toxteth. Junkies everywhere though and they have habits to feed.
It doesn’t work like that, it knows if the keys are in the car or not. I’m forever unlocking the car from within the house by sitting on the keys if that was the case the car would be long gone.
Or they don't want your car.
I had a Vauxhall insignia piece of crap plastic hire car with the key present push button start a few years back in Holland.
Parked it out side the office and went in.
A few hours later the receptionist came down to my office. Excuse me do you know your car (which was almost directly outside the window of the office I was in ) was sitting idling....and by the look of the temp gauge had been since I left it.....neither me nor the 3 passengers noticed when we left it ...
Unless things get violent there’s no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
Which is a shame as this lower level crime affects far more people, undermines faith in the Police more and potentially leads to some offenders doing more serious down the line.
A bit like the lack of traffic cops.
Something I'd like to discuss with my democratically elected PCC
I must live in a slightly less violent area to some. I am on my areas facebook group. Its handy to see if someone wants some of the crap i am getting rid of. Anyhow the latest thing is videos from their fancy doorbells and its pretty consistent from a few people. The major crimes at the moment are........
1) Stealing tyre valve caps off car tyres
2) Playing in the bushes
Honestly the locals are up in arms about it as if we live in the bronx. One guy mentioned it was a bit out of line slagging off these kids dress code and their upbringing. He has now been blackballed from whatever wife swapping parties that are arranged (Ive never even been invited).
With regards to home security. I have door locks, locked 6ft gates, me, my 2 dogs (One would have a go, the other wouldnt. Both would make a LOT of noise) and my 19yr old son. If someone wants to break in then crack on. I am certain they would prefer to have a go at 95% of the other houses on my estate. The trick is to make your house too much hassle than other options.
Depends where you live. Crime is very local. I live 3 miles north of the Glasgow boundary. Pretty much crime free. No garages or houses in the street broken into in the last 30 years. Worst crime wave was one night when three cars got mirrors kicked off them. A neighour got a window smashed. That's about it. I have regularly forgotten to lock my shed overnight without losing any of my bikes.
Go 3 miles closer to Glasgow where you are easy walking distance from the Maryhill and Drumchapels areas of Glasgow and it is a crimewave im relative terms. I'm not up to speed with the current situation but 5 or 6 garages and sheds getting done in one night was not unusual.
There really are not enough police. My area of 10000 households has 1pc and 3 pcso to cover all shifts 24/7. At best there are 2 on duty, usually one and often at night shared with neighbouring areas.
But even a properly resourced police there is only so much that can be done with petty crime. There is huge amounts of evidence that crime increases as poverty and inequality increases across society. Fairer society less crime
but do some people not lock their house doors at all times?
windows open, door unlocked where I live in galloway but my area is not representative of where you live.
Last time I locked my doors was 3 years ago when I had a weeks holiday in aviemore.
Unless things get violent there’s no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
I'm surprised at that - because Police Scotland would. They would pursue someone trying front door or door handles on driveways under s57 on the Civic Gov (Scot) Act:
Any person who, without lawful authority to be there, is found in or on a building or other premises, whether enclosed or not, or in its curtilage or in a vehicle or vessel so that, in all the circumstances, it may reasonably be inferred that he intended to commit theft there shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 months or to both.
does England not have an equivalent?
Somafunk - so you don't look your doors when you go to work/shops/pub and house is empty?
Poly - in think they mean lack of resources rather than legal power
so you don’t look your doors when you go to work/shops/pub and house is empty?
Don't work, haven't been to a pub for 4+ years, haven't been to a shop in 2+ years and when I do leave the house (very rare these days due to spms) I don't lock the doors so nope............its quite safe here.
Prior to being totally ****ed by ms I never locked the house, except for weekends away/holidays etc. like I said my area is not representative of what has been mentioned above.
Lack of resources, lack of will power, lack of any meaningful deterrent, the people behaving like this aren't put off by a criminal record, community service, suspended jail sentence, at worst occupational hazards, at best it doesn't enter their heads there might be consequences.
because Police Scotland would. They would pursue someone trying front door or door handles on driveways under s57 on the Civic Gov (Scot) Act:
Ah but to do that they would have to catch them. They routinely don't even attend these kind of calls in parts of the city.
A council in the North East is now starting to evict council tenants whose kids had been involved in anti social behaviour at a railway station.The parents get warnings and so far 2 or 3 families have had eviction notices.
Of course,when the reporter asked people in the area what they thought about it some said the parents should not be responsible for their kids actions.
I find it bizarre that "locking the door" and "living in fear" seemingly have equivalence.
It's a fraction of a second to twist a key and prevent someone just wandering in maybe even accidentally. A couple of weeks ago a delivery driver opened our front door to chuck in a parcel, this is potentially problematic as I have house cats with the road smarts of a cheese sandwich. We're not sitting here hiding behind the sofa every time someone coughs three streets away.
find it bizarre that “locking the door” and “living in fear” seemingly have equivalence.
I find it wierd people lock their doors period.
Guess it's all to do with where we grew up.
We’re not sitting here hiding behind the sofa every time someone coughs three streets away.
Take everything to the random odd extreme ?
Sounds like your living in fear of your cat being squashed on the road other wise why would you lock your door.
There's an analogy that springs to mind but it seems in appropriate to put them together but let's say it shouldn't be up to the homeowner to stop people walking into their house.... People should not be walking into people's houses in a fully functioning society.
There is huge amounts of evidence that crime increases as poverty and inequality increases across society. Fairer society less crime
It's as if some long term social investment might pay for itself in 10-20 years time.
finding this whole thread bizarre tbh because every house I’ve ever lived in - pretty sure every one I’ve even [i]been[/i] in - the front doors lock when you close them! Isn’t that how they work? 🤔 Guess not!! 😂I find it wierd people lock their doors period.
Live in a pretty low crime area, never even heard of anyone I know getting burgled, everyone still locks the back door though when going to bed or out, because that’s What You Do. This is down south tho. YMMV if you come from Postman Pats village or something I guess 😀
Just to address a few things I've seen pop up on the thread so far then....
I'm not living in fear, it's just a shame that my area is being blighted by this. I don't expect we're going to be broken into and full-on burgled, but there's a chance now that if I leave the door unlocked over night, some little pecker could sneak in and nick the car keys.
This whole situation has never been an issue my whole life until about the last 5 years when we first heard of kids trying car doors up our street. Now that's developed to them trying front doors as well.
I'm not in any FB groups, nor am I going to join a vigilante group, I just get shown the discussions by other people. It's only a matter of time imo that something will happen, someone being attacked or something.
I only started the thread to see other peoples experiences, I have also emailed the local MP to make him aware and a local pcso who will likely come round to discuss it.
I live in Blackpool, so obviously there'll be derogatory comments about that. But believe it or not, there are some nice areas round here and other market towns and small villages extending right across the whole of the Fylde coast. Everywhere has been blighted with it recently. A mate of mine lives in a small village in the sticks heading toward Preston, some kids opened a window to his living room, climbed in and took his car keys. The car ended up in a car chase in greater Manchester somewhere, was stopped with a stinger and the kids arrested. Drugs and cash on board. A more extreme example obviously, but goes to show that random sh!t like this happens even in a quiet village in the (almost) middle of nowhere.
Not locked my front door overnight for around about 20years.
Crunchy gravel drive
Pir lights around house
Insomniac neighbours
Low-ish crime area, not a village .in Hampshire .
Do get the teens wandering around at 0100 trying car door handles , and the odd more serious TWOCKing. A blurry B&W 15 sec clip of facebook of a skinny kid in a hoody with a scarf is useless , but does show they are around.
do some people not lock their house doors at all times?
My first house I lost the key so left it unlocked for about three months until I could be bothered to buy a new lock set. Worked 12 hour shifts, five days per week at the time. Nothing happened.
Next two houses I didn’t lock the doors if I was in or nipping out for a bit. Nothing happened there either despite one of them being in a shitty part of Huddersfield.
Current house, front door gets locked because we live on a busy road and Funkette is four and mischievous. Back door is normally left unlocked or half open (stable door) most of the time. Locking yourself in just seems crazy to me. What makes you feel that unsafe?
Unless things get violent there’s no chance the police will have the resources to be able to meaningfully tackle this sort of low level crime
Police in Glasgow did some actual investigating when someone stole my laptop non-violently. I was amazed!
BTW my house doesn't have a lock on a latch that locks automatically. Aren't those type of locks very weak anyway?
Is it just me who locks the door when I get in because I've got a memory like a sieve and know if I don't I'll go to bed then have to wander downstairs 20 minutes after in the cold?
Or do you just leave it open all night as well?
What about zombies entering while you sleep??
Or do you just leave it open all night as well?
Lock it as I walk past it on my way to bed. Routine.
I also check the car is locked at the same time.
Before hanging the keys on the hook where they live then go to bed.
But that's different to feeling the need to lock the door at any time it's not in use.....
Just been round to board up a neighbours door and window that was broken this evening. I heard the thieves and disturbed them so they never got in but they made a mess of the door. That's only one week after the neighbor on the other side of us was burgled and 3 weeks after the neighbor 4 doors along was done. It's all going a bid mad 🙁
I think more likely is they just don’t GAS. Hood up, mask on, can’t be identified no matter how good the camera is.
Our locals don't care about that, just wander in and take what they like.
the new thing is stealing plants from people’s doorsteps (bay/olive trees etc) 🤷♂️
Same here. Plus any shitty garden tat that isn't nailed down.
Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.
FWIW I'm not a compulsive door locker but then I didn't grow up in a shit hole, I did live in some since including a flat that was broken into and my bike wheeled out whilst my flatmate slept and even waved to the burglar when he stepped into his room. As such I'm cautious now and don't leave stuff open to getting lifted. My wife grew up in Cumbernauld and hasn't lived anywhere she didn't need to lock the door before here.
Not everyone has the luck or experience of growing up as one of the Secret Seven, try not to judge those that didn't.
I live in KT7, a nice area. People walk the streets at night trying car doors, I left my truck open once and lost my RB sunnys and £20 in change. They even do it in daylight. We caught one wandering about trying doors and reported him, Rozzer where here in 5 minutes
Guy across the road lost a five day old Merc ML to someone cloning the remote key, so both our cars keys are kept in pouches.
We have had a few break-ins over the years local, mostly when people are away, but a couple a few years back when the owners were in bed. They were tied up and threatened and the house was ransacked.
I have always had an alarm, but we now have a much better one that we put on 'Home mode' in the evenings and lock all the doors. It is monitored and will call the police, it has a camera in the house in the event of being triggered they can check in. there is also a panic button that does the same. It also covers the garage, where the bikes are and my workshop. The Garage is like Fort Knox. Main door has a false wall behind built behind it and the biggest upvc door with security glass.
I hate it but needs must I guess. Just around the corner in Richmond Park four cyclists were mugged off their bikes in daylight. Like I said nice around here...
“ Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.”
I think they are also unaware of how much a smug tosser they sound like.
Moving is easy to say but hard in reality dont you think? I have thought about it for years and will at some point... maybe.
Schools, work, friends and a life tend to slow down this decision and of course how much it costs. Plus where too? the rest of the country is pretty much the same right?
Plus where too? the rest of the country is pretty much the same right?
No.
One thing we have learnt on this thread is that everyone has a different idea of what normal is. There are plenty of places where having to lock your door, or at least feeling like you do, is really not a thing and some where it is essential, including some quite wealthy areas, like that chap in Richmond a couple of posts up, despite being one of the richest parts of the country it sounds really grim.
We used to have a crappy Fiat Panda when we were young. Lived in a really rough area that's since been sorted out. Major drug dealers lived two blocks down. We had to leave the car unlocked and keys in it.
Might sound counter-intuitive. But the car wasn't ever wrecked. Sometimes it'd come back with less petrol in it. Sometimes more. The only time we locked it, they smashed a rear side window and took a dump on the back seat!
I am confused.
If you lock your front door how do the neighbours wander in to use your microwave or borrow some milk ?
Here on the Isle of Mull we typically have one recorded crime incident per quarter. Most folks don’t lock their doors - we have an entrance hall and leave the outer door unlocked as much for the postie / courier deliveries. Inner door is locked when we’re out because sometimes we leave the dog at home and she’d lick any intruder to death! A bigger concern is leaving the gate closed because the deer will get in and scoff the contents of the garden!
Must great for all of you who can afford to just move where you please at the first sign of trouble. Peak STW.
I think 3 signs in an 8 month period ( which the resulting paranoia took a while to get over) and it being a rental is a fine reason to move. New rental was cheaper too as wasn't in the city .... Likely not the case now though thanks to the wfh shift.
We have had rural crime( folks oil pinched and the barns cleaned out) so we remain vigilant. but not continuous in the way that doors are tried in the city here.( 6 miles away)
So how long until two threads get combined with rampant theft of air source heat pumps? £2-3k of soon to be in-demand kit sat outside. They already have a convenient adjacent isolator switch, so snip the cable and two copper pipes, then maybe 4 bolts and it is away in 1-2 minutes with practice.
The two main incidents in our village have been where requested police never attended an original incident and things escalated :
Group of kids mucking around in the school grounds>trying to set a wheelie bin on fire>school burnt to the floor.
Kids steal some slabs of beer from Spar>emboldened and pissed kids at 2am trying car doors and stealing / trashing what they found (lots of dash damage to neighbouring old lady - hopelessly trying to steal a fully built in satnav ffs).
