Latest News from Kirby Home Security

Doorstep crime can come in a variety of forms and is carried out by criminals who deliberately target the most vulnerable members of our communities.

Distraction burglaries involve criminals posing as genuine callers – they will claim to be an official from a utility company, such as water, electricity or gas – to gain entry into your home. Once inside, one of the callers distracts you, whilst another searches for money and valuable items to steal.

A variation of distraction burglary involves criminals posing as reputable tradespeople who offer to undertake repair work on your property. They do the work badly - if at all - and put you under extreme pressure to pay.

Who are the victims?

Anyone can be the victim of a distraction crime but older, more vulnerable people are the most at risk. Research shows that:

• 67% of victims are female

• 74% of victims live alone

• The average victim is 80 years old

The majority of victims make a full recovery after the initial shock of an attack. However, a small minority are not so lucky. For the most vulnerable amongst us, the consequences can be severe and long lasting.

What are the Police doing?

To help combat doorstep crime — particularly distraction burglaries — Police forces across the country have launched campaigns which aim to provide simple advice to householders and encourages neighbours to look out for each other to help make life difficult for doorstep criminals.

What can you do?

One thing you can do to help prevent doorstep crime is to keep an eye on your neighbours and vica versa. To find more about how you can protect yourself and what to look out for, contact Kirby Home Security or your neighbourhood policing team.

According to the Home Office, the elderly are no more at risk from crime than any other section of society. However, if you feel vulnerable, follow these top tips to keep safe:

• Keep your possessions safe by securing your home. You may be entitled to help towards paying for security improvements from your local council. Check with the housing department about these payments.

• Don't keep large amounts of money in your home. Keep it in a bank or building society where it is much safer.

• Get to know your neighbours, as it will be helpful to both of you if you get to know each others routines. Why not join or set up a local group.

• Make sure you have good exterior lighting on your home. Call the council and let them know if any streetlights on your road aren't working.

CCTV is a cornerstone of home security. The images captured can provide valuable information to help the police trace intruders. Where those images are stored can be a weakness. If a burglar steals the recorder or SD card the information is gone.

Many of us routinely use cloud based storage for our documents, photos, music and other files so why not store CCTV footage in the same way?

Kirby Home Security is partnering with Cloudview to provide just such a service.

Visual verification is often added to intruder alarm systems using CCTV cameras connected back to an alarm receiving centre (ARC). Often this is implemented using the same telecoms wires as the detectors they monitor. If those wires are damaged or sabotaged it all goes down – alarms, cameras, the lot – a classic case of single point of failure.

Cloudview addresses this by providing independent visual verification of alarms using WiFi to connect to the cloud rather than directly back to the ARC. Video can also be directed to the ARC and on-site recorders. But cut the wires to detectors on a Cloudview monitored site and the cameras will still work, delivering best of breed visual verification at a fraction of the price of CCTV-based alternatives. And because it’s self-contained and independent, Cloudview can be added to any existing intruder or hold-up alarm system.