RESIDENTS are urged to ensure their driveway gates, garage door, and front and back door security gates are kept closed and locked during the day.
According to Heather Rorick from Bulwer Community Safety Forum, with children on holiday and at home during the day, security gates and doors were being left wide open and were visible from the road, which encourages criminals to hop the fence and walk right in.
She said often children and people were either in the pool or busy somewhere in the garden and their eyes and attention were away from the gate and door left wide open.
“Many people have walked back into their home to find a criminal has already slipped into the home without being seen or heard. The criminal has the upper hand as he has been observing you and your movements, the homeowner however is totally taken by surprise and is caught off guard,” she said.
She said people needed to warn family members as well as domestic workers to close and lock the gate even if they are just going a few meters away to the washline or the postbox, or even if they are in the swimming pool or playing in the yard.
“An open gate and door is one thing that will attract the attention of a criminal who may be lurking in the area just waiting for the right opportunity to get into someone's home to steal,” she said.
