Residential estates not impervious to crime
ADT shares a few tips on how to stay safe when living in a residential estate and warns residents not to be complacent about their personal home security.
With the sudden rise in residential estates in recent years, syndicates that target these homes have also mushroomed.
A leading security company shared tips on how to stay safe.
“While security companies are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve their service to residents, residents too can play a part in dealing with crime in estates,” says Mike Kidson, managing director of ADT Northern Region.
Kidson shared the following safety tips for estate residents:
* Do not rely on perimeter security alone. While perimeter security measures have been successful in driving down crime in estates, once criminals gain access to properties within estates, they often have free rein. This is because residents become complacent about their personal home security.
* Be sure to lock doors and windows and ensure vehicles are locked even if they are parked in a garage. Don’t leave valuables lying around, particularly where they may be visible to a passer-by.
* Check references of your domestic worker and gardener. Very often crimes within estates are carried out with the assistance of a domestic staff member. Make sure you have properly checked your domestic worker’s and gardener’s references and educate them on keeping your home secure when you are not there.
* Be extra cautious if there is construction happening. Having construction workers on-site within estates has historically resulted in elevated crime levels. Whether this is a direct result of construction workers having access to the estate or the increase in traffic in and out of the estate, you need to be diligent about ensuring your home is secure.
* Report suspicious behaviour. A growing trend in estates is for a crime syndicate to move into a home for a period of time. During this time they monitor the behaviour of residents and initiate house break-ins in the estate before moving out. If you notice any suspicious behaviour, ie blinds or curtains permanently drawn, report it immediately to your security company.
* Be alert when entering and exiting the estate. Criminals have targeted residents leaving from or returning to estates and hijacked them a few metres from the gates, if not right in front of the gates. The reality is that people relax and become less and less alert the closer they get to home. Don’t think that just because there is a security guard at the gate that you can become complacent.
