Monday 31 March 2014

Going home for the holidays? Don’t give burglars a break!


The Easter holidays are approaching and many students will be going home to finish coursework, prepare for exams and hopefully find time to have a break. The unfortunate thing is that burglars know that students typically go home during this period, leaving an empty house behind that may have valuables inside. 

Burglars target houses for different reasons but most burglars are opportunists. Students living in shared houses will have 5 times the amount of valuables than someone living alone. This means, 5 laptops, 5 phones, 5 bikes etc for burglars to take. The good thing is that students can take preventative measures to secure their home and property. Follow these simple tips from South Wales Police:

Lock it. Hide it. Keep it.



   Ensure all doors and windows are locked. It may sound obvious, but you will be surprised how many doors and windows are left unlocked. Make sure your windows and doors are locked, even when you are in.

   Protect valuables. Never leave expensive items on display and take all valuables home with you. Why don’t you register your valuables for FREE by visiting the national property database www.immobilise.com.

   Secure the garden. Shut and lock garden gates and clear gardens of items that could be used to force entry e.g. bricks, ladders.

   Remove obvious signs that it’s a student house. Club night posters in windows and overflowing rubbish in gardens tell burglars that students live in the property. Clear frontages of rubbish and remove obvious signs that it’s a student house, e.g. posters. Find our your next waste collection day at www.cardiff.gov.uk/waste

   Extra support. Ask your landlord/letting agent or a trusted neighbour to keep an eye on your house during the holidays, and ask them to push through any mail hanging from letter boxes. Use timer light switches when your property is unattended for any length of time, this makes it look like someone is in.

For extra safety advice visit www.south-wales.police.uk or www.cardiffdigs.co.uk , or contact PC Student Liaison Officer Tim Davies on Timothy.Davies@south-wales.pnn.police.uk or 07976277161

Follow South Wales Police and Digs on Twitter, @swpeast and @cardiffdigs

Remember to Lock it. Hide it. Keep it.