Another burglary...

[sazzle]

I live in a block of flats by the station and i was burgled last week.

I suspect they got in the building via the shared front door using the tradesman buzzer, so if you have one i would reccommend you deactivate it asap.

Also think about re-enforcing your door with the london/birmingham bar as mentioned on other threads.

[citizenED]

Sorry to hear about this, sazzle - not a very nice thing to have happened. I trust you are not too shaken.

regards.

[CamberwellOz]

Thank you sazzle. For years I have wondered what is on the back of our door. I now know it is a Birmingham Bar. One of life's questions finally answered.

I'm home a lot of the day (now I've been mummyfied) and I'm astounded at the amount of people who ring our buzzer trying to get in. It really does make you wonder how many opportunistic people there are around there... and how many people are really watching your front door.

[AcedOut]

Sorry to hear that also sazzle. I hope things work out with your insurance company etc.

I've recently managed to get hold of a SmartWater kit from the police. There is another thread where this was discussed, but if you email the person the the council, they can arrange for the police to visit and supply the kit for free.

Does anyone have a good contact person for fitting the Birmingham Bar etc? I've been thinking of upgrading my locks for some time, but don't really want to fit it myself.

[MadWorld74]

please because I have no idea what either a Birmingham bar is or a salt water kit is....can someone tell me?

[Jeremy]

London bars and Birmingham bars are door reinforcement devices... strong strips of metal you screw onto your doorframe. They look ugly, but work pretty well as I understand.

I don't think you need a fitter... surely you just need a drill and a screwdriver?

[Andyng]

Don't you have an alarm

[MadWorld74]

and a Salt Water Kit?

[AcedOut]

Yes, I have smartwater - for more info search on this forum for contact info, or Google to the company page.

Tbh, I think just a sticker on the front/back door with 'CCTV and Alarm Fitted', would be deterrent enough. Not a bad start for those not wishing to splash out on a full security system (I'm sure you can buy the stickers alone from Ebay, not that I'm recommending it).

[sazzle]

I think a local locksmith or carpenter should be able to fit a birmingham bar.

I searched but i can't find anything on saltwater kits. can you direct me?

[canolo]

sorry to hear this. I also live in a block near the station and was burgled twice last year, and have massively increased security as a result....london bars, alarms, extra locks, etc, etc

on the first occasion we'd left the house that day with suitcases. a guy broke in expecting it to be free, only to find our terrified housesitter screaming at him. nothing stolen. second time, our housesitter left the house with a suitcase, and we were broken into during the 4 hour period before we returned. plenty was stolen on that occasion. its traumatic enough having your privacy invaded, and worse to think there are people watching your movements.

[ladida]

Am V sorry that anybody gets burgled, it's horrible. Happened on my B'day 3 years ago. V. long screws, window frames etc are the cure. Police came came around a day later, had to sleep in the lounge on the floor that night until they arrived and not disturb anything. Nothing heard yet, am holding my breath though, I'm sure the Old Bill aren't that bad! Good luck.

[bluecanary]

I think this is the stuff http://www.smartwater.com/Personal.aspx

[PeckhamRose]

I also have a load of IMMOBILISE ID kits you can ID your valuables using a yellow marker pen (it is invisible to naked eye) and then write down on the form the serial numbers etc of everything you have written down and marked, best to photo them too (don't keep it on the hard drive of the PC about to be nicked though!) and also register the whole lot on a web page www.immobilise.com. I have quite a few left - I was given them by the police at the local Ward Panel Meeting. I advise you find out where yours is and come along to the next meeting and find out why the police did not come tilll the next day. The Safer Neighborhood Teams make up these ward panel meets so you get to meet your local police and Community Wardens and SPCOs and other interested parties. Ours meets every 2 months at the Carpet School (I can never remember the name of the big exWaverley School at the bottom of Peckham Rye!) And it may be the same one as yours. Put yourself out one evening every two months if you can and make your feelings known. The latest was they wanted us to volunteer to catch fast car drivers using a special speed gun. I said no to that, but anyway, come along.

There was discussion at the last one about the burglaries that happened soon after a known group of house burglars were released early to make more space in prison for.... prisoners... The police had caught two of them. (To be fair it may have been the SPCOs who caught them, can't remember.)

How to get hold of these Immobolise kits?

Well I shall leave a batch at the pub for the social meeting I can't come to.

And I left a batch at The Clockhouse, too. Ask Laurence the landlord to give you one of them.

And ask your local police station maybe Dulwich have some. www.immobilise.com

[AcedOut]

This is the email address I used to get hold of my saltwater kit. The police hand delivered this to me, otherwise you can order it directly from the company at around ?60.

[email protected]

[Jeremy]

It's "smartwater", not "saltwater".