Police Scotland have issued the following safety advice. Please take the time to have a read of it and take any necessary steps to help secure your home.
“Being vigilant and protecting your own property will make you far less likely to become the victim of acquisitive crimes such as theft or housebreaking. If you see anything suspicious please consider calling Police Scotland on our non emergency telephone number 101 to report the matter. You will never waste our time. We rely on the public to provide this kind of information in order that we can target our patrols. You can also provide information anonymously if you prefer by calling CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800555111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
You may find the following crime prevention advice useful.
- KEEP CAR AND HOUSE KEYS well away from your doors. Thieves use fishing rods and poles with magnets to reach through letterboxes and through open windows in order to steal car keys. Consider hiding them at night.
- LOCK ALL DOORS and close windows at night and when you are not at home. Thieves travel to housing estates and walk around at night trying door handles until they find unlocked doors. They rarely force entry to houses.
- If you have an alarm system make sure it’s set when you leave the house. If you don’t have an alarm system consider fitting a “dummy alarm box” in a place visible from the roadway. Thieves are often deterred merely by the sight of an alarm box and will move onto the next house.
- Keep valuables such as handbags, purses, wallets, laptops etc out of sight. Consider taking them into your bedroom with you at night. Do not leave valuables in your car, especially around Christmas time.
- If you share a communal stairwell, ensure the door entry system is well maintained.
- Make your house looks occupied when you are out – use timer switches on lights even when you are at work. Consider fitting external security lights.
- Consider hiding irreplaceable items which have sentimental value where thieves would be unlikely to look… just in case.
Further advice and information can be obtained online from the Police Scotland
website at www.scotland.police.uk or from your local police office”